PostSecret

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of hearing about PostSecret.com, I’m here to share it with you. So basically, it’s a website where people send in their secrets anonymously and they get posted for the world to see. It was started by a man named Frank Warren, who’s now known as the “most trusted stranger in America”. In 2004, he handed out 3,000 blank postcards to random people all over Washington DC, asking them to share a secret and mail the postcard back to him. He didn’t expect much to come out of it, but it has sparked into a huge phenomenon. Not only did he receive postcards back, he continued to receive them and they were pieces of exquisite art, hand crafted and painstakingly designed to reveal people’s deepest secrets. He displayed them in an art gallery for awhile, and decided to post them online and continue his project. Now it has grown into a full blown career, where a PostSecret exhibit has traveled the country, he has published four books, and lectures at campuses across the nation. One of these lectures was at Central Michigan University and I actually got to attend with fellow Bailey Scholar, Kiana Miller. It was an amazing experience and completely surpassed expectations. Not only was the presentation fabulous, but Frank’s message was truly inspiring and moving. I have been going to PostSecret.com for 3 years now and it is extremely addicting. It leads to thought-provoking conversation and so many good discussions have started with the words “so have you read Sunday’s secrets yet…”

I was inspired to write this up for Bailey when I stumbled across another PostSecret lover, Suzy Borkowski. As I read each new secret, I find new revelations all the time. One of the most profound things I’ve discovered through PostSecret is how small the world is, how even though every individual is unique, we all share the same passion, love, sadness, joy, embarrassment, desire, fear, delight, regret, obsession etc. I am constantly thinking about shared experiences and this website just gives me this incredible connection to every other person who reads the new secrets every Sunday like I do. Sometimes the secrets are hard to read and it’s heartbreaking to think about the people out there who have shared a completely devastating or horrifying secret. I know this in itself has turned people off of PostSecret, but the flip side of that are the extremely happy secrets and the ridiculous ones, or even the funny ones that make you stop and think “ha, I didn’t think anyone else did that…” It makes our embarrassing moments and awkward habits not so bad, knowing you’re not alone. Though I think the biggest thing people get from this website is HOPE. Knowing someone out there shares your same secrets; other people have gone through what we are going through, it’s empowering and exhilarating and strangely conforting. Plus, sharing a secret you’ve been holding on to for way too long is healthy. I believe in the psychological benefits of self disclosure and that bottling up these secrets can be harmful. Even just anonymously posting a secret on a website can lead to healing. Personally, I think it helps me understand myself a bit better each time I read a new secret and find I can relate to it. So try it out, check out this weeks secrets and share your thoughts.