Sunday Secrets: April 26, 2009

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment.

Today, I found only one secret that I could have written. It's from the PostSecret Germany website:

My sweet husband says he's VERY glad that
he doesn't live inside my head.
WAY too complicated in there. I agree.

This one secret is just the tip of the iceberg for my interaction with PostSecret this week.

Last Tuesday, Frank Warren did a guest lecture at the University of Idaho in Moscow, where my daughter Julie goes to school. She was able to get some extra tickets, so Dale and Jodie and I drove south to attend.

It was GREAT!

Even though I had already read the story of PostSecret, and had seen Frank many times in televised interviews, I was pleasantly surprised by this unassuming and gentle man. He had an easy presence on stage, and in telling stories of this ongoing project.

The lecture began with Frank explaining how the project came into being. He then projected some postcards onto a screen. These were secrets that were not able to be published in the first post secret book, primarily due to copyright issues about the artwork.

Frank then shared one of his own secrets with the group about a painful incident that happened when he was a kid. Even though that particular secret has been published in one of the PostSecret books and he's shared it in many, many lectures around the country, he choked up a bit when reading it. He said, "Every time I say this secret out loud, I can leave more of it behind me."

Finally, he opened the floor to anyone in attendance that might want to share a secret or ask a question. One by one, brave souls went to the microphones to reveal their own secrets. That portion of the lecture was surprising and funny and powerful.

The aspect that came across most clearly during the lecture was the great respect Frank has as the keeper of secrets for an entire nation. His intent is to "protect the integrity of the secrets." He knows that much time and effort goes into the making and sending of the post cards.

But more, he knows though experience just how difficult it can be to divulge a secret, to have enough trust to tell someone else a hidden truth. He obviously feels the weight of that trust, and holds his position with humility.

When asked if he's ever received a 'made up' secret, Frank took the question more philosophically than literally. He said that there are some post cards with messages that he highly questions are factual. But he thinks of the PostSecret project as a work of art or literature. The intrinsic truths revealed in the secrets are about our common humanity. These truths outlast the truth or falseness of the details on any one card.

There were two things Frank said that most stuck with me. The first was, "The world needs to hear your voice." The second? "Courage is contagious."

It takes courage to reveal hidden aspects of one's life. But if you have the courage to share a bit of yourself with others, that example is contagious. Those you dare to share with, may then dare to share with another. Frank also said, "Every time there is someone that needs to tell their secret, there are two that need to hear it."

Sharing secrets helps us feel that we are connected to others in the human condition.

In part, this is why I write my blog. To share my inner journey ... no matter how much it makes me look like I need that straight jacket! And to inspire others by philosophizing about what I see, do and learn along the way.