“The Sublime can be created by particular exercises in thinking. Try imagining the Earth in its actual smallness, a speck in vast space.”

The 50th Law, Chapter 10, The Sublime

For us humans, our entire existence revolves around language.

Everything we think and feel is framed by words, whether it be our internal monologue or the way we outwardly express ourselves.

Whilst this emphasis on language has inevitably provided numerous benefits, it also comes with some drawbacks.

The most significant drawback being that words often fail to fully express reality.

Our words struggle to capture the depth, potency, and intricacy of our emotions, and so they become merely symbols—vague representations of what we think and feel rather than perfectly accurate descriptions.

Throughout history, people have had all kinds of unique experiences in which they witness something that exceeds the capacity to express these moments in words.

As such, they are simply left with a complicated mixture of multiple overwhelming emotions—awe, exhilaration, confusion, appreciation, fear, euphoria, sadness, and more.

The feelings are so unbelievably powerful that, despite language usually dictating our lives, these people cannot find the words to express how they feel.

Most of us will say that being exposed to these kinds of experiences is frivolous.

We presume that there is little to be gained from being subject to such extreme circumstances or thinking deeply about the world and its complexities.

These are false assumptions.