Friday night, Frank Warren, the creator of “Post Secret” came to Southern Connecticut State University to talk about his project.
Every Sunday, post secret posts “Sunday Secrets”. These are secrets people send to Frank’s home telling their innermost thoughts and secrets. As the project became bigger and bigger, Harper Collins reached out to Frank to make a book – which has now become several books. There have also been Post Secret exhibits at museum where thousands of postcards are on display showing everyone’s secrets.
I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when I saw that Frank would be at SCSU. At first I thought maybe it would just be a glorified book signing – but it was so much more than that.
Frank took the stage and first discussed a bit about what made him start the project, how neither of his parents supported him – but fortunately his wife and daughter do. (And since all the postcards are sent to Frank’s home, he said his wife has joked that they will now never be able to move!) He showed an image of stacks and stacks of postcards being piled in his home. One was written on a banana and one on a coconut! He shared some of his favorites.
We also got to see the “secret secrets” which are ones that for whatever reason Harper Collins would not let him publish. (Nudity, copyrighted photos, etc)
After Frank was done talking – he opened up the floor to whoever wanted it. They could ask him a question or share a secret. This was very emotional for not only those sharing their secrets but also for those in the audience! Some of what people revealed were sad, others had happy anecdotes to add to the discussion.
If you are even in the least bit interested in Post Secret and follow the secrets – I urge you to check out and see if Frank is coming to your area for his tour. You will leave changed. The whole ride home I was thinking about my “secrets” and what to do with them. Should I let the world know? Should I anonymously tell a stranger? Should I bury them inside? Can I do something so that these secrets are no longer secrets and help myself in the process? And most importantly – how can I use what I know and my skills to help others? Frank has done great work for suicide prevention hotlines – raising lots of money and raising awareness through his project. How can I make a difference?
(There also is a new post secret app – right now for iPhone and soon for Android. And apparently never for BlackBerry. Looks like another reason for me to be switching to a droid when my upgrade comes around!)