Language cannot capture the enormity of experience

I have yet to come across any writer that has been able to successfully capture the enormity of experience. That is because it is impossible. Even the most brilliant writers are unable to fully describe and depict the enormity of an experience. There is nothing, not even the most sophisticated language, that can take the place of actually experiencing something. Countless times I have told a story about an experience only to see a blank expression on my listener’s face. “I guess you had to be there…” I would then say. I know for a fact that this doesn’t only happen to me, and is a result of the shortcomings of language.

If language could capture the enormity of experience, why would anyone go out and experience anything for themselves? We could just read about something and know what it is like to experience it. This is obviously not true. I have read stories about what it is like to experience sky diving and still I can’t quite grasp the emotions or the feelings involved. Also, I have had feelings and emotions that I could not quite express through language many times. There is simply not a way to fully express certain feelings without compromising some of the experience.