For those of you that are unfamiliar, PostSecret started as one man's social experiment and morphed into a unique solution to one of our most basic human struggles..........the toll keeping secrets takes on our mental, emotional and sometimes physical health.
Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret had an idea for a "group art project". He handed out postcards on the streets that requested people to write a previously unspoken/written secret, decorate the postcard and mail it back anonymously. Crazy........just so crazy that it freaking worked! Soon it was on Blogger and new secrets were posted weekly. Now it is a top 10 website that still shares weekly posts of new secrets. I would love to ramble on and on about the history of PostSecret, but Frank Warren himself does a much better job telling his story on a TED talk.......if you are interested you can find that talk HERE.
Ever since I discovered PostSecret I have been fascinated by it. Every Sunday I get up.....coffee in hand and discover other peoples "secrets"......ooooooooooo........sneaky.....I know!! Over the years I have become attached to this time.......this unveiling of sorts where in the privacy and comfort of my own home I can get a peek at the raw unfiltered parts of the human condition.....have access to the things religious confessionals and personal inventory sheets only see. The secrets we hide from strangers and more often then not from those we love the most. Maybe I love it so much because some of them make me giggle out loud.........others are so painfully awkward that I couldn't imagine having them......yet others are so sad I have been known to get teary eyed. Maybe it's because I was a Pych major and the mind fascinates me...maybe it's because I share some of the same secrets as others......maybe it's because some part of me knows that a person somewhere wrote down that secret and hopefully got a little relief from the heavy load it takes to carry that stuff around.......even just for a minute....they had a little freedom from it.
The amazing thing about PostSecret and the reason why I think it works is that it fills a huge psychological need that we all have. Ever heard the saying "secrets keep you sick"......it's true...they do.....and the really bad ones are the things that ruin a life or make you take all the wrong roads or if you're really lucky get you a Lifetime movie screenplay that may bring in a couple bucks here and there. The bottom line is they rarely help a person out.......they eat at you....gnaw at your insides and poke at you....making you fearful and uncomfortable....always wondering if they will be FOUND OUT.......GASP.......not cool.......
PostSecret provides people a way to let these secrets out.....with the protection of anonymity. Think about how awesome that is.......apply it to yourself........
What would YOU tell if you knew that no one would be able to trace it back to you??
How would you feel if you didn't have to carry around that big heavy chunk of yuk solo? What if you were to come clean and just say it......your resentment about that lady at your work......that hurt you felt but pretended it was OK...........that pressure you constantly feel from someones expectations of you or one that you put on yourself......that fear that paralyzes you.....that loneliness that doesn't have a name but is present all the time.......
I did it once.......not PostSecret....but something along the lines of a tell all your shit to another so it's not camping out in your head and your heart...... partying with all your other bad friends in there and making you and your life suck in general...you know...that kind of exercise.......
It was terrifying.....and yet...it is one of the most helpful and freeing experiences I have ever had in my life.....
After finishing this sort of internal trash removal I was sitting on my front porch and I had this wave of energy come over me.....the best way I have ever heard it described is this........"you know when you are a kid and it's perfect outside and you are riding your bike and the wind is in your face and you are smiling and are warm and fuzzy and totally free......just happy to be that free....???"
That's the one........
That's the feeling I had after telling my secrets.........and it still knocks my socks off just remembering it.
No lie......it's that freakin great.
So much of our energy is spent hiding....or trying to make up for some kind of real or imagined harm or failure....what if we had a place to let that go? What if we could trust each other enough to provide that kind of acceptance to one another?
I would love to say the answer is to just live right....not keep secrets and then the problem wouldn't even exist...but lets get real..We are humans....I don't know about you guys but chances are I'm still not going to wave to so-and-so and act like I don't see them because I think their an asshole for freaking out on the checker at Safeway.
I probably am not going to let the other moms know that while I am smiling and waving when picking up my kiddo from school I have the most obnoxious and disgusting ghetto fabulous rap songs playing in my ear-buds because I secretly enjoy the fact that they would be appalled at my taste in music......
BTW......Lil Wayne wants you to lick him like a lollipop bithces....yeah...that's right......I went there and they never even knew........
All just examples I assure you.......I always smile and wave.....and only listen to Kenny G on school grounds......just a few hypothetical scenarios.....you know......to get the imagination going......you get the picture....
The point is this......there is a human need to keep things but there is an equally strong need to let them go......it is through the power of honest confession that freedom from these burdens of being human are found.
How much happier would we be if we had random PostSecret boxes around. What if instead of losing sleep about hating your mother-in-laws coupon obsession you could write it down....send it out into the universe and know that it was out......no reason to spend energy forcing it back down......
What if we accepted our secrets....processed them....and used them as fuel to connect with each other??
To hard you say??
The success of PostSecret says it's not.....and even more important that it is needed.
To hard you say??
The success of PostSecret says it's not.....and even more important that it is needed.
Do yourself a favor.......tell one of your secrets today.......
Write an anonymous postcard.....put one on a piece of cardboard and then burn it.....tell it to the squirrel that hangs out in your yard....he sees you doing it anyway......just do it.....give yourself a chance to unload the burden of secret....see how much better you feel.
To learn more about PostSecret you can visit the site HERE
To learn more about how this experiment is making a real difference in peoples life a great article can be found HERE
One Love,
Danielle
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