PostSecret is a community based art project created by Frank Warren. The project started as a dream while he was on a trip to Paris in 2003. In his dream he saw three post cards that he had bought while on the trip, he dreamt that the messages on each of the postcards had been altered. Warren stated, “the first message read, ‘unrecognized evidence, from forgotten journeys, unknowingly rediscovered,’ the second message was about a ‘reluctant oracle’ postcards art project and the last message I could not understand at the time.” When Warren awoke he decided to recreate the postcards as he had seen them in his dream. Little did he know that his dream would lead to the phenomenon of PostSecret.
The following year Warren followed his dream, literally, and started the “reluctant oracle” project. He put printed out pictures and wrote messages on them along with stamps into clear, glass wine bottles. He dropped these bottles into the Clopper Lake in Gaithersburg, Maryland. At this time he was an anonymous artist, but his mysterious bottles gained recognition all over the world. People were puzzled, yet fascinated by the floating bottles. His last bottled message from this collection said, “you will find your answers in the secrets of strangers.” Warren distributed 3,000 blank postcards and wrote down two things on the back. The first was his home address, and the second was an invitation to anonymously share a secret. He left some of the blank postcards in the lake, but handed out most of them. He passed them out on the street, left some in library books, and “forget” a number of them on restaurant tables.
With the first 100 postcards he received, he decided to created an art exhibit in Washington, D.C. Warren fully expected that the project would be finished the day that his exhibit ended because he had stopped handing out blank postcards; however, that was not the case. He continued to receive creatively decorated postcards on a daily basis, and found that people were mailing them from all over the world. Warren wanted to continue sharing these secrets with the world, so he created a website, and every Sunday he shares about 20 secrets with the world.
Sharing a secret is therapeutic; the artist feels relief because their secret is finally out in the open. On the other side, some followers of PostSecret have never mailed a postcard in, they simply find that it’s the pure beauty of other people’s courage that is so moving. A student follower of PostSecret shared, “I have never shared a secret, I don’t feel as if I have to because it is so universal, each person’s secret somehow relates to some person out there, whether they wrote it or not.”
PostSecret is completely anonymous, but it brings an entire community and generation together. It gives the viewers reassurance that they are not alone. A Champlain student commented, “Everyone has a secret, and when you go to PostSecret it is a reminder of just how similar we all are. We all have similar wants, needs, and feelings. We all get sad, lonely, and depressed. We all experience love, heartbreak, disappointment, and joy.” PostSecret is an inspirational medium and is extremely unique.
In modern society, the media controls many aspects of our lives. It forces people to feel badly about themselves. The media sets trends, such as appearance and it also magnifies societies pressures. The pressure to go to college, get married, have children, and to overall be successful in fulfilling the American dream that society created. PostSecret is a gateway for people to honestly express how they feel. It is a non-judgmental medium that people can turn to when there is no one to talk to. Another Champlain student stated, “I think PostSecret showcases that the media can be used to do something very positive for our generation. It is one of the only outlets in the media that truly displays people as true figures, and not the cookie cutouts that society wants us to be.” The media has taught our generation to be strong, and that it is unacceptable to show weaknesses. PostSecret is a platform for being able to finally show raw, inner emotions, that most people are forced to bottle up.
An equally admirable quality to PostSecret is that Warren has gained an enormous amount of empathy for humans, and specifically our generation. At many of his college tours he uses the event to promote campus health services and the general well being of his viewers. Warren views postcards that come from depressed artists. His PostSecret community is one vehicle to express emotions, but he has also joined forces with the National Hopeline Network (1.800.SUICIDE) to further help his followers. He widely promotes his wellness resources, because of his gained empathy by creating this art project. Warren pairs up with many wellness resources, but is the largest advertisement free blog in the entire world.
Warren’s newest book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God is now being sold.
Warren, Frank. "Sunday Secrets." Web log post. PostSecret. Web. 9 Dec. 2009.
PostSecret Community. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.
By Heather Barrett
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