L’appel du vide - the call of the void. Typographic Graphic Design Tank Top

L’appel du vide is a French term meaning “the call of the void”. It describes the appeal of self-sabotage. Have you ever stood at the top of a cliff, or tall building, and thought “what if I jumped”? Or had an urge to switch into oncoming traffic? Or thought about what would happen if you jumped onto the tracks, as a train approaches? The French recognized this phenomenon and called it l’appel du vide – ‘the call of the void’. The examples of causing our own death are the most dramatic, and where you’re most likely to have felt this. But the phenomenon is everywhere. The call of the void is the call of self-sabotage. It is unavoidable in any endeavor.