“Is there anyone on the planet who hasn't yet heard of the PostSecret phenomenon? It has taken the world by storm! PostSecret is an ongoing community art project in which everyone is invited to decorate a postcard and write on it a secret that they've never told anyone before, and then to send it in to Frank Warren, who conceived and coordinates the project. Warren selects and posts 20 postcards on the website every Sunday. (postsecret.blogspot.com)
I try to check the website every week to see the new cards. They are just fascinating, and I always wish there were more. In this book, I got my wish - it reproduces approximately 500 postcards!
The forward by Anne C. Fisher, Ph.D., is pretty cheesy, comparing Warren to a psychotherapist and saying, "When you send the postcard to Frank, he is on the other end to receive it. The same person who has offered us an opportunity to share has taken an interest in us and is there for us, unconditionally." I doubt that Warren himself sees even a fraction of the hundreds of cards he must get every day, and he doesn't love all of us strangers unconditionally! But never mind that, the forward is not important. It is the postcards themselves that are important. I do think that it is helpful at least to some extent for people to share the secrets that burden them. But it is the act of telling that is liberating, and in this case, it is not just Frank Warren, but the whole world who is playing the role of confessor. I also think that it is helpful for the people who see them - to understand the deepest parts of other people, and to see that we are not alone, that others share our fears, hopes, and sorrows. And Warren, if not a psychotherapist and unconditional lover of the entire world, does deserve credit for a brilliant idea and all of the time he has put into the project.
The cards are amazing in their diversity and their ability to move us. Some are simple, many are amateurish, others are complex, and a few are true works of art. They are in English, Hebrew, French, Braille, and other languages. But every one is unique and highly creative. And the secrets themselves are equally diverse. Some are inspiring, many are poignant, others are funny, and a few will haunt you. There are even some that are gross! And some are sexually explicit - this is not a book for children. Together they all demonstrate both our shared humanity and the uniqueness of every individual.
It is both sad and reassuring (that it is normal and practically universal) that a great many - perhaps the majority - of the cards are about grief for a lost love.
I could never get tired of looking at these postcards! There are several other PostSecret books, and of course I want to read them all.
I'll give some examples of the secrets in this book, but you miss out on a lot when you can't see the art that goes along with them:
"I can't think of a secret. Except - I don't think I'm interesting enough to have a secret."
"Sometimes i wish that i was blind, just so i wouldn't have to look at myself every day in the mirror."
"I envy the willpower of anorexics."
"He's been in prison for two years because of what *I did*. 9 more to go."
"I'm homeless and no one (not even my family) knows about it."
"I used to fertilize a ring in our lawn every time I mowed it. It grew. My parents still think it was aliens."
"There was no deer. I was just driving too fast."
"When I'm mad at my husband . . . I put boogers in his soup."
"I'm afraid of naked women."
"I paid an 'F' student $50 to write my valedictorian speech. And it was way better than mine could ever have been."
"My parents are related."
"god is the only one who loves me no one else on earth does"
"The love of my life is ugly."
"I'm 25 and I"ve never been kissed."
"i give decaf to customers who are RUDE to me!"
"I will never be sexy enough."
"When i see an ugly bride, what I am really seeing is a glimmer of *hope* for the future. [maybe i will marry someday.]"
"I dream: There is a lover who will know that I'm faking."
"I still believe my childhood bear is real."”