I’d never heard of Post Secret before this past weekend when I stumbled across the website and was instantly fascinated. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Post Secret is, according to its creator, Frank Warren, “a community art project where anyone can write a secret on a postcard and mail it in.” Some of those secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website (Click the Sunday Secrets link). There are also Post Secret books and museum exhibits.
The site, for me, was mesmerizing, not just because the postcards are little art pieces (heartbreaking, startling, delightful, provocative), but also just the idea of it – this vast repository of the words we’re afraid to say aloud. I read all the postcards available (there are just a handful, I think it changes every Sunday), and I wondered about the people who had sent them – what drove them to do it, and how did they feel afterward.
I like to imagine that they are absolved, freed by the act of confession; the thing that is eating them up inside is expelled. Maybe it’s a little easier to breathe then. Maybe it gets easier and easier from that moment on.
I am not one who holds everything inside. I’m a believer in attaching words to what hurts me. Once, a friend told me that the act of sharing a secret gave her perspective. She said that as long as the secret was locked inside her, it seemed insurmountable, enormous and scary, but that as soon as she put words around “the big bad,” it became manageable. It became something she could fix or at least move beyond.
Not all the secrets people share on Post Secret are painful. Some are funny, some are wonderful, some are so full of hope they make me giddy. One of my favorites says this: It’s the happiest part of my day just talking to her… I hope she recognizes my handwriting.
How wonderful is that?
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And now for something completely different… A friend sent me this – pictures of a hummingbird hatching. It’s really amazing. Make sure you click all the way to the end.
Wild
That confession IS wonderful! Makes you hope that this particular secret “sharer” is happy now…maybe that “someone” recognised the handwriting?!
Post Secret I have heard about, and I am little hesitant to go there because I fear it’ll turn into another little internet obsession of mine and I’ll end up spending oodles of time there. So…I have stayed away.
But….now that you have written about it…
BTW, I did go to your friend’s website to read the poem and I am glad I did.
Thank you for this thoughtful post. It’s sparked my imagination big time.
Tina, Well, there aren’t that many postcards on the blog at any one time… There are 24 there now, and I think on Sunday they’ll take those down and post more. (I’m going to check over the weekend to see.) But I get what you’re saying. I don’t watch new shows on television, even ones that come HIGHLY recommended for the same reason. The last thing I need is to get hooked on another show. (The poem by Darren… I’ve never met him except in blog land. But I like the idea that maybe we’re still friends!)
Linda, Yay! My work here is done. (For today anyway.) ;-)
Interesting. I am trying to figure out if the “postcards” were sent in all “artsy” like that or if the people with the website made them so.
I was addicted to Postsecrets for the longest time. They do post new ones every Sunday and some actually get left in books for others to find. I stopped reading them for awhile…not sure why.
I liked the art of the postcards the best.
good post j as always, but i guess that’s no secret.
kid
I always love your ‘and now for something completely different’ segments…loved this one of the humming birds hatching…we have them zooming around our yard too…best, Darren
Terre, the website encourages people to be artistic. In something I read (can’t remember if it’s on the actual website or some of the extra pieces I read about the site and its founder) it said the postcards are supposed to be handmade.
LLF, I saw that on the video – people leaving and finding postcards. It is very interesting to me – the emotions and the psychology involved. I can see where maybe you wouldn’t want to keep reading, especially if there were a lot of dark or sad ones.
Kid, You always make me laugh! Thanks!
Darren, I love when people comment on the And Now For Something Completely Different. I’m never sure if anyone’s reading them. The hummingbird series amazed me – especially that last shot that shows the relative size.
LOL. I will have to check out this site. Your blog is amazing. I am thoroughly enjoying it.
I’m sure secrets told out loud are liberating, except of course if people find out and don’t trust you any more.
It’s like that with a person I know, although I didn’t find out from him, the secret is out and we don’t even say hello to each other. Betray hurts too much to be forgiven, or at least this one does.
But I liked the secrets page, how do you find these? :)
Eric, thank you. I will check out your blog today. I enjoy you enjoying my blog! ;-)
Estrella, I just stumbled across this one – one link leading to another. But people send me stuff I might want to blog about all the time. I love that about my friends – even the ones I’ve never actually met, like you! I save everyone’s suggestions and links in a folder. Cuts down on how often I have to be a genius all by myself!
How great for you! I don’t have that many friends interested that much in sites to forward them to me so I’m often thinking of what to write about. Hope I’ll have a nice post tomorrow, I\ll sleep on it, and just maybe inspiration will find me until then ;)