Whispers of the Void (and Other Lies I Believed at 3AM)

If you’ve ever played World of Warcraft, you know the Void isn’t just some edgy energy source for Shadow Priests and spooky tentacle monsters. No, no. The Void whispers. It lies. It gets inside your head and tells you things that feel true—not because they are true, but because they sound just familiar enough to pass for your own thoughts.

Void whispers aren’t big dramatic lies like “You can definitely solo that elite mob” or “Your guild won’t mind if you skip raid again.” No. The Void specializes in quiet sabotage. Tiny, treacherous suggestions, whispered on the wind of your weakest moment.

“You’re not good enough.”
“You’re a burden.”
“No one really likes you.”
“Don’t speak up, you’ll just embarrass yourself.”
“You should stay home. Again. It’s safer there.”

Sound familiar?

Yeah. Same.

Sometimes I joke that I rolled a Shadow Priest in real life. I channeled those vibes a little too well. The dark inner monologue. The self-debuffs. The tendency to apply “Dispersion” when socializing for more than 90 minutes. Classic Shadow spec.

But here’s the kicker: most people I know—whether they’ve ever set foot in Azeroth or not—also live with a background hum of Void Whispers. They may not call it that. Some call it “imposter syndrome” or “low self-esteem” or “anxiety.” Others just think it’s them—their true voice, their honest, authentic thoughts.

Except it’s not. It’s not you. It’s not me. It’s the Void.

And if you don’t learn to recognize it, you’ll mistake those whispers for wisdom.

For the longest time, I thought those thoughts were me. I’d hear that internal monologue reciting its daily playlist—“You’re not smart enough, talented enough, pretty enough, skilled enough”—and I’d just nod along like a particularly sad backup dancer. I didn’t question it. I didn’t fight back. I just accepted that my brain was telling the truth, and I tried to compensate by achieving more, shrinking smaller, or apologizing for even existing.

Spoiler alert: that’s not a good strat. It doesn’t scale well.

Eventually (after much emotional gear farming), I learned a new skill. Not a passive bonus. Not a talent point. An active ability that requires practice: Watching My Thoughts Without Believing All of Them.

It’s like training yourself to hear a raid boss mechanic without immediately standing in the fire.
“Oh hey, that’s a fear spell incoming—better pop my trinket.”
Not: “OH MY GOD THIS FEELING IS REAL PANIC I AM PANIC PANIC PANIC.”

That’s the Void winning initiative.

Learning to watch your thoughts without getting caught in them is like learning to tank your own mind. You see the aggro spike—“You’re not good enough.” Instead of letting that thought cleave your self-worth in half, you sidestep. You keep aggro on your awareness. You call it out in chat: “Void whisper detected. Not engaging. Keep dpsing truth.”

Because truth? Truth is quiet. It’s not flashy or dramatic. It doesn’t shout in all caps or use your worst fears as bait. It just is.

Truth says:
“I’m still here.”
“I’m doing my best.”
“I don’t have to be perfect to be valuable.”
“I am loved, even when my brain is glitchy.”

Some days, I still lose to the Void. Some days, I click the wrong button and spiral down like I just fat-fingered Dash off a cliff. But more and more, I’m learning to see the difference between a Void Whisper and my actual self.

And on the days I can’t remember which voice is which, I ask someone I trust to read the combat log with me. Because healing this kind of damage? It’s not always a solo job.