On Tuesday, October 9th, I’m going to share something with someone that I’ve never shared with anyone ever before. A secret. Left anonymously. Addressed to a stranger, who may be you? I will write it on a postcard and slip it between the pages of “A Lifetime Of Secrets” by Frank Warren, a hardback book scheduled for release the very same day. Crisp, clean pages free of bends and blemishes. Joined together and aligned perfectly with straight razor cut edges. The spine cracks and crinkles upon opening it. Paper fibers, glue and press ink mix together to deliver that one of a kind new book smell. Pull the right book and a postcard may flutter into your lap, land at your feet. That postcard may be mine. My secret may be revealed to you. And you alone.
I’ve made it no secret that I’m a huge fan of the PostSecret project – the website, the books, the whole idea behind it all. I think it’s amazing what Frank Warren has started. It’s freeing. It’s moving. It’s a way to relate to total strangers and them to you. In fact, it even brought me in touch with Casie, that girl with the beautiful smile who is featured day in and day out on the PostSecret website. It’s because of her, sharing her secret and her message of hope, that millions of people, including myself, have been given the strength to share their own dark truths. I wrote about Casie back in May (5/28/07 - Hope Floats) and shortly after was pleasantly surprised to see an e-mail from her show up in my inbox. Casie had written to thank me for what I had written about her on my blog. How she found my blog, I don’t know, but I’m happy to have found her note to me.
I visit PostSecret.com religiously every Sunday night, that’s when they upload new postcards for the upcoming week. It's a weekend ending ritual of sorts for me. A Sunday night never goes by that I can’t find a piece of myself in at least one of the postcards…and something tells me I’m not alone when I say that. In roughly 24 hours, the newest PostSecret book “A Lifetime Of Secrets” will hit store shelves nationwide. I’ll head to my local Barnes & Noble and pick up my copy, just as I have done with all three of the previous PostSecret books. But before I step to the register, I’m going to step into the shadows and slip my own postcard in one of the remaining PostSecret books waiting to be adopted. I may choose the book by random, but the secret I place inside it has been carefully selected.
It’s something I’m hoping will be received warmly and will give a total stranger a sense of connection, to me, who is essential a total stranger to them as well. No matter how deep, how dark, how ugly, or how emotionally consuming a secret may be, there is hope. There is an outlet. There is a way to free yourself of the weight and the burden you carry with you. Write it on a postcard, slip it into one of the millions of PostSecret books about to hit store shelves…and breathe. Breathe a sense of relief that your secret is finally being set free and you will remain nameless to it.
Hope, it's a beautiful thing and I'm hoping you will join me in doing this too on October 9th.
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