The secret is in the telling
An evening with Frank Warren of PostSecret
By Emily Hubbell, Campus Life writer
May 21, 2007 | 11:25 p.m.
How much would it take to reveal your deepest, darkest secret? And, if shared anonymously with the world, how would that secret affect others? This simple relationship is at the heart of Frank Warren's PostSecret project.
To millions, Warren has become something of a close friend. In fact, he has been called "the most trusted stranger in America," which could very likely be true given that his mailbox in Germantown, Md., is filled with hundreds of secret postcards every day.
Warren has heard every type of secret imaginable, whether it be sexual ("Johnny Depp is the name of my vibrator"), philosophical ("I go to the movies to try and imagine what life would be like if only I could fit in") or just plain quirky ("Where I work, I'm too lazy to walk to the bathroom…so I pee in the kitchen sink").
On Saturday, May 19, Warren shared his story with about 250 students who attended his free lecture at Templeton Blackburn Memorial Auditorium. Thoughtful, quirky and human, the hour-long presentation combined the history of PostSecret with the audience's reactions to it.
The author opened his lecture with a simplistic description of his job. "My name is Frank," he said, "and I collect secrets."
What It's About
This is exactly what Warren started telling people when he first began PostSecret in late 2004. In its earliest form, the project consisted of placing 2,000 self-addressed postcards in library books around Washington, D.C. On the postcards, the author asked people to write something true about themselves that they had never told anyone before. He urged them to use the postcard as a canvas.
Soon after, these postcards started finding their way back to Warren. Eventually he began receiving secret postcards from other areas as well. Warren posted these cards in an art exhibit in D.C.
After the exhibit ended, the author created the PostSecret Web site. The site, one of the most visited on the web and the largest advertisement-free blog, posts between 20 and 25 secret postcards each week. Warren puts up a fresh crop of secrets on Sundays.
And then came the books. And the popularity. And the "Dirty Little Secret" music video.
When the director of the video approached Warren asking permission to use the PostSecret idea for the All American Rejects' "Dirty Little Secret" video, the author declined the offer of $1,000. Instead, he told the director to donate $2,000 to 1-800-SUICIDE, a free hotline that Warren endorses.
This is not the only time that PostSecret has aided the hotline. When 1-800-SUICIDE was experiencing financial difficulties, the Web site's visitors raised $30,000 in one week, enough to keep the hotline running.
"Suicide is America's secret," Warren commented during his lecture. "You can see that in the media. There is story after story about homicide and murder, but very few stories about self-harm. For every two murders in this country, there are four suicides."
Warren stressed that PostSecret benefits the person sharing the secret as well as those who can identify with it when they see it on the Web site or in the pages of one of the three PostSecret books.
"I feel as though this is a community project," he said. "It belongs to everybody -- people who mail in, people who buy the books, people who attend lectures like these."
He added, "Everyone has at least one secret. Each of us has the ability to share that one secret in a way that will serve the greater community."
After showing the audience some of his most recent postcards, Warren approached what he called "the most difficult part of the evening" -- the portion where he shared his own secret.
Warren said he realized what his own secret was while reading through the PostSecret postcards. When he was in fourth grade, a new kid moved into his neighborhood. In an act of bullying, that new kid and some others held open Warren's eyes and spit in them. Although this was one isolated event, the author said he has struggled in coming to terms with it.
"I feel I have more possession over that part of my life now," he said after sharing his secret. He concluded, "Share your secrets and become who you are."
Following the lecture was an audience discussion and a 20-minute slideshow. Warren also held a book signing session in the auditorium's lobby.
A new PostSecret book, A Lifetime of Secrets, will feature postcards from people of all ages. The book hits shelves in October.
The lecture was sponsored by tRAC and UPC.
Audience Reactions
During the discussion session and after the lecture, students had strong feelings about PostSecret and how it relates to their own lives.
"It was kind of cathartic for me. I do relate to a lot of the secrets. When the author read the secret that made him cry, I felt tears in my eyes." - Kim Brack, freshman
"I thought it was really interesting because I didn't know about PostSecret before I came. I thought the things people wrote down were really personal." - Christine Fisher, freshman
"There are a lot of things you can relate to. For example, people choose their words carefully when they write their postcards. I know I would do the same. Also, I think guys are more willing to protect their secrets than girls are." - Jason Rabant, sophomore
"I love PostSecret because I have seen things there that relate to me." - Matthew Jeffries, freshman
"I like it because everyone else had a secret like mine. I've already made my postcard, and I'm going to send it in soon." - Brianna Wolfe, Athens High School
Do you want to know a secret?
1. The most common secret sent in by men is "I pee in the shower."
2. Warren's mother called the project "diabolical."
3. Warren has received money, jewelry, love-letters, illegal drugs and cremation ashes attached to postcards.
4. Any cards with company names on them (Hallmark, etc.) cannot be printed in the PostSecret books due to legal reasons.
5. Warren once received a Rubix cube with one secret written on each side. The sides came scrambled, though, so he had to solve the Rubix cube to read the secrets.
6. One of the first postcards Warren received read, "I'm struggling to deal with what I've become."
7. Warren's wife once slipped a postcard into his mail that said, "I want to sleep with Richard Gere."
8. One postcard read, "He's been in prison for two years because of what I've done…nine more to go." Although the writer attached a return address to the postcard, Warren did not report the message to the police.