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By Michelle Williams So said Frank Warren, 43, creator of the blog PostSecret, to a crowd of nearly 800 at the University of Maryland Tuesday night. Warren is no stranger to secrets. Roughly 1,000 find their way to his Germantown mailbox each week. Some speak of desires, others of happiness, humor, humiliations and regrets. Appearing on handmade postcards, they come from all over the world, waiting to be read and published by a man who recognizes a secret’s value --and has been called America's most trusted stranger. Warren said PostSecret allows people to see each other’s hidden humanity and humor and share it. And people can learn from this, he said. “This reminds me of the truth," he said, holding up one post card, which he believed was from an airline bag handler. It "reminds me during my travels to always treat people with the respect and dignity that they deserve.” The card had six RUSH stamps on the front. On the back, the sender wrote: “You called me an idiot. So I sent your luggage to the wrong destination. Wooops. I guess you were right.” PostSecret started as an art project in November 2004 on the streets of Maryland and Washington. Warren approached strangers at Metro stations and movie theaters, asking them if they wanted to share their secrets with him. He handed them self-addressed postcards that were blank on one side and had instructions on what to do and where to mail them on the other. He said he would display them in his exhibit. At first, one or two trickled in each week. But soon, enough had arrived to hold the exhibit of them. He thought he was done. But word of the project spread virally, he said. He started receiving handmade postcards from Virginia, Texas, California, Brazil, Afghanistan. That’s when he knew he had tapped into something.
Warren turned the art exhibit into a blog that, to date, has seen more than 127.6 million visitors. He has received nearly 200,000 postcards, each with an artistic element. Secrets have come on sonograms, Starbucks cups, deflated balloons, and, one of his favorites—a Rubik’s Cube. The Rubik’s Cube had a different secret written on all six sides; the messages were mixed up for Warren to decode. “It’s like an artistic movement,” said Laura Baumgartner, a University of Nebraska at Omaha sophomore who said she couldn’t miss the Maryland event. Baumgartner, who’s interning in Washington this semester, said she visits the site every Sunday when Warren posts the latest 20 or so posts. There’s another truth Warren said he’s learned from the project. Based on the e-mails and postcards he’s received, he’s noticed that “sometimes when we think we’re keeping a secret, that secret is actually keeping us, and it could be undermining our relationships with other people.” He’s also noticed that many of the secrets deal with pain. “A lot of secrets have to do with issues of self-harm and suicide. And I don’t see it reflected in other parts of our society,” he said. “I think if you read national newspapers or watch the local television news, you’ll see story after story about murder and homicide,” but not so much about these less-public pains. But PostSecret serves as a venue for people to address their concerns and feelings. The conversation between the secrets is so special, and people appreciate that, Warren said. That’s one reason for the project’s success, he said. James McNabb, a University of Maryland junior, would agree. He’s watched the site for a few years, and said that what draws him to it is that you get to “see a side of people you don’t usually see.” As far as future plans for PostSecret go, Warren said he would just like to see where it naturally leads. The small business owner said the project has already led him to great places. He has new friendships, book deals and an opportunity to have the postcards featured in the All-American Rejects music video, “Dirty Little Secrets.” And he was willing to share one of his secrets. He said although his wife fears that when they retire the secrets will continue following them, he doesn't want them to stop. Maryland Newsline’s Michelle Williams can be reached at mwilli30@umd.edu. |
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Copyright © 2008 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism | ||||||||||||
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