Immersion makes the difference

Before parting ways at the boarding gate of Tenerife North Airport, José Luis and I recorded our first impressions after a week of freediving classes using two microphones and a recorder—what we learned, what we loved, and what we thought we knew but didn't.

If you listen to our conversation, you'll understand what it feels like to dive deep underwater, relying solely on your breath, and the most common reasons people lose their lives practicing this sport. However, you won't truly know what it feels like unless you've done it yourself.

The only way to understand how something feels is to experience it. The best way to remember what you felt is to capture your emotions as they happen or shortly after.

That's why non-fiction writers do immersions and dive into the activities and niches they want to write about: Writing about things you have never experienced is hard. (It helps to have jumped from a plane to write about parachuting.)

Still, nobody truly knows what you're going through, and they won't be able to relate to it unless they've been through the same thing. They can't feel your happiness or sadness, your satisfaction or frustration, your pain or pleasure. They aren't you, and you aren't them.

We may never know what certain people are going through.

Immersion makes the difference.