Secrets

I've been checking the new PostSecrets every Sunday for a long time. And it has surprised me by being one of the most inspirational things I've discovered in a long while.

People mail in their secrets anonymously, on a postcard, to the man who operates the whole thing, Frank Warren. And the postcard is usually wonderfully creative. It's amazing to think that someone could put their trust in a total stranger, just so maybe for one moment they can connect with someone, share their pain with someone, make someone laugh, even though chances are they will never really know them. Some of them have genuinely made me cry. A short sentence, the secret of a complete stranger. Ones like "My mother killed my father long before he killed himself." That one will always stay with me. When you read something like that, you feel it. And the same goes with the ones coming from people who have realized they are in love or people who have finally realized what they are worth in this world.

Some of them are hilarious. I will never forget reading one that said "As a child, on my aunt and uncles farm, I fed a chicken nugget to a chicken. I still feel bad about it.

I've felt horrible about keeping secrets. I've come to realize that they're necessary. I strongly advise anyone who hasn't read PostSecret yet to do so. And those of you who do read it, mail in your secret, because you have one. We all do. Chances are you'll feel liberated.