Hundreds of Georgia State University students and PostSecret fans, some traveling from over 4 hours away, were in attendance to see Frank Warren on October 27th in the Student Ballroom. Warren started the PostSecret Project over 5 years ago in DC, where passed out 5,000 blank self-addressed postcards to complete strangers, asking them to anonymously reveal untold secrets in an artistic form for a school art project.
Warren was surprised at the number of decorated postcards he received and proceeded to put them onto his blog. Since those first secrets were shared with the public, PostSecret has grown into an award-winning blog, book collection, museum exhibit, and was even featured in the All American Rejects’ “Dirty Little Secret” music video.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Warren before his public appearance at Georgia State to ask him more about the project, how it began, and what his future plans are.
How did you get started with the PostSecret Project and originally come up with the idea?
Growing up, I was an only child for about 7 years, and I didn’t have a good relationship with my mother. I think I kind of formed this rich interior life where I was keeping secrets. So as an adult, I think I imagined other people probably had these hidden hopes and fears and inside jokes. And I thought if I could find a way to create a safe, nonjudgmental place where people could share these parts of their inner life, it could be pretty special.
What have you learned through the PostSecret Project about what people tend to hide?
The project has shown me there are two types of secrets: the ones we keep from other people, and the secrets we hide from ourselves. I hope through PostSecret, the courage that people share on these posted works of art can help inspire [others] to look inward and find those parts of ourselves we may be hiding from.
How many postcards do you get every week?
I get about a thousand every week from all over the world, in different languages and everything. My mailwoman actually has one of her postcards in the new book. It’s kind of at the end of the first chapter, you can see it, it says “from Cathy the mail carrier.”
Among the secrets you’ve received, there are revelations of really traumatic events, such as childhood molestation and suicide. How do you believe the PostSecret Project has been helpful or therapeutic for those people?
Well, the goal of the project was never to create a source of therapy. I see it more as a collection of works of art. But I have heard back from people who have mailed me a secret and followed it up with what the experience was like for them. They say that giving voice to that private part of themselves and putting it on a postcard and physically letting it go has helped them in some cases to reconcile a part of their life they were hiding from, and maybe be that first step in a much longer journey facing that part of themselves they had to struggle with.
What’s your secret?
I’ve written my own secrets on postcards and mailed them to myself, and there’s one of mine in every book. I have found a sense of solace by sharing a secret anonymously. If you read the first book, the introduction, you can probably figure out which secret is mine in that one. And in the latest book, PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death, and God, I have 2 of my secrets in that book, and they’re both on page 103.
What’s the weirdest or most disturbing secret you’ve ever received?
Well I like the funny ones, like the one that was mailed to me on a Starbucks cup that said “I serve decaf to customers who are rude to me.” But I get all kinds of secrets. I received one postcard that had nine hair samples taped to it, and it said, “when I babysit children, I like to snip a little piece of their hair and keep it.” And there were little snippings, you know, on the postcard. So that really makes you think. But I think it’s a good thing to expose those stories. I think if you’re a parent it’s a good thing to know that kind of reality exists sometimes.
I know you’re involved with the cause of suicide prevention. Can you tell us more about that, and how it relates to the PostSecret Project?
The issue of suicide has touched me in a number of ways personally with my friends and family. I don’t think there’s a direct connection between secrets and suicide, but when I found out that the website was getting literally millions of hits every month, millions of visitors every month, I knew I could use that as a platform to raise not just awareness but funds for suicide prevention and support [for] the hope line, 1-800-SUICIDE. So for me that’s been one of the most meaningful parts of the project, knowing the PostSecret community has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for suicide prevention.
What’s the next theme you might have a book on?
I’m not thinking about any more books! I don’t know what comes after Life, Death, and God. That could be it, we’ll see. I’m just enjoying traveling to college campuses and sharing the stories behind the secrets, and listening to audience members’ secrets too, that’s pretty exciting and emotional.
So what else do you have planned for the future of PostSecret?
We’re trying to find a way to share the stories behind the secrets in a longer, narrative form, so we’re talking about film and television, and those possibilities are exciting.
