Tell Me Your Secrets (7th Meditation)

I have to admit that I’m a little bit of a nosy person. I constantly eavesdrop without even realizing it. So, when I discovered the PostSecret website it was like I was eavesdropping on the world. Frank Warren started the art project on a Blogger blog nonetheless. The concept of the project is simple, people send in their secrets to Frank Warren and he posts about 20 every Sunday on his blog and publishes some into his books. There are only two rules for the secrets, they have to have never been told, and they have to be true. The secrets range from silly to serious crimes and create a healing process for the people who write them and touch the people who read them.

Frank Warren has published five books from the secrets he has received, Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, My Secret, Secret Lives of Men and Women, A Lifetime of Secrets, and Confessions of Life, Death & God. I, personally, own the book A Lifetime of Secrets and reading the book was such a incredible emotional transfer, it was amazing. I really felt for people and could even relate to some of the secrets that were being told. And some secrets like “everyone who knew me before 9/11 thinks I’m dead” were so unbelievable that I never realized people had that big of secrets. It really opened up my eyes.

PostSecret provides a place where people can share their secrets without feeling judged. Part of me wonders if it really helps people feel free from their secrets. Sure, you could be telling the world, but does not knowing the people you tell really make you feel all that better? I’m not sure that it would help me, but I suppose that it’s up to each persons own individual meaning.

In an aesthetic shift, not only does the website have books and seminars at colleges, but it also affects my own life at college. For my dorms’ LEAD requirements our Peer Advisors decided to make a PostSecret board in our basement. They used the bandwagon approach to it and tried to make it seem like everyone was doing it by putting examples from the website. It is a good experience though; it’s interesting to know what other people in the dorm are going through.

One of the things I love most about PostSecret is the videos that are created from the secrets. I like them because it's not just a slideshow of postcards, they actually manipulate them in interesting ways that appeal to the limbic brain. Also, one of my favorite songs is used for this video.