There may already be an abundance of personal revelations on various social networking venues, but PostSecret creator Frank Warren is looking for those dark, sexual or humorous secrets that could be burdening an individual.
Oh, and he’d like you to share them in front of your classmates at the University of Albany Performing Arts Center on Feb. 8.
The live presentations derive from the website www.postsecret.com, where Warren hundreds of thousands of postcards he has received from people all over the world, from places such as New Zealand, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and the United States.
On those postcards are secrets people submit anonymously, secrets they feel that can’t talk about to anyone.
It’s a safe, non-judgmental place where people can share hidden parts of themselves, he said, adding that the live event adds another dimension. `I’ve been thrilled because I think the web site achieves that and the events more and more achieve that same type of space. For an hour or two, people are taken out of their everyday lives where they can talk about those feelings, acts of kindness or embarrassing moments.`
It isn’t just audience members that do the sharing, Warren shares his secrets as well. But he said the most memorable part of the evening is when the audience members share their own secrets, which he said can either be sexual, silly or shocking.
`I think there’s something very special about hearing a secret live,` he said. `The courage to stand up and expose yourself to people you see every day, I think it’s courageous and the best part of the project.`
But with social networking sites, Warren said young people are much more comfortable in sharing secrets than their parents were, adding that if he was in college he would have never gotten up and shared a secret to a crowd of his peers.
Even with the very emotional parts of the evening, some of the funnier moments are produced when people bring a long their friends. That’s where some of the best secrets come out, Warren said.
`I would encourage people to invite they’re friends because they usually tell the best secrets,` he said. `It’s usually because the secrets involve the person who invited them. Then they can use them as blackmail.`
Warren reads and keeps everyone of the postcards he receives. He said it has helped cultivate a greater appreciation for shared human nature, but said there can be a dark side to being privileged to read complete stranger’s deepest secrets.
`I’m not shocked anymore but everyday I’m still surprised,` he said of the postcards he reads. `It feels like a great privilege that over half a million people trust me with their greatest secret. But it can be burdensome reading painful secrets day after day.`
He keeps an archive that he said will end up somewhere, but currently he puts them into exhibits that go across the country. Currently at UAlbany, the display he has is called `Life, Death and God`, which he said contain some of the more funny, sexual and soulful secrets.
With people going to these events and being able to view these postcards on the web site, Warren said it shows them that there are others out there that are carrying a troubling secret.
`I hope it works to build greater empathy with people,` he said.
When Warren started the project, it was as a submission to the Artomatic bi-annual arts festival in Washington D.C., his hometown, in 2004. He handed out 3,000 postcards to strangers on the sidewalk and began posting the results of the project on his web site. Once that happened, Warren said the project went viral overnight.
While PostSecret can be cathartic for others, the project turned out to be a form of therapy for Warren, as it has allowed him to share himself more than he ever has before.
`I think maybe I needed PostSecret more than anybody else did,` he said. `The community of people in PostSecret encourages me to share the most painful secrets, to free my secrets and become who I am. I think that when we keep secrets, we don’t realize those secrets can keep us, too.`
Warren said he could walk on the stage at the Performing Arts Center and announce that his is quitting the project for good, but there is a goal in life he needs to continue to accomplish. Not only does it fulfill his fascination with postcards he’s had since he was a child, but he is able to help others who need a voice.
`My greatest goal in life is to give a voice to those not being heard.“