Last night I was lucky enough to hear Frank Warren, the founder of the Post Secret project talk at my University.
It has been five years since the first time I heard of post secret at the start of high school. I am now at the start of college, and I have been through many ups and downs in that time. (There really is no other way to say it: there are those moments of height and happiness, the ‘ups’, and those times that you just feel small, defeated, ‘down’.)
I have followed post secret regularly throughout this five years, I have checked the website many Sundays in a row, I have written secrets but never found the courage to mail them, I have suffered and I have learned. Most of all I have found a happiness that I did not know about five years ago, and part of that has to do with discovering that I am and never have been alone in my perceived struggles. That is what post secret is about: understanding the truth that none of us are as alone as we feel.
Sitting in the crowd last night with close friends, some people I recognised, and some people I had never seen before, I did not at any point feel alone. I felt an overwhelming sense of community in the crowd that was all there to share in their hope. Hope found through the secrets of others. Hope found in themselves when they thought there was none left to discover. Hope in humanity, in the future, in making a connection.
I could go on and on about how inspiring the post secret community is. I could talk about how it has helped so many people in so many ways. I could say that it touched me and showed me a humanity I had never imagined. But I don’t want to preach; I want to inspire. So go see for yourselves: go to postsecret.com and connect with someone else’s secret: laugh, smile, and cry.
Ever since I first heard of post secret I have tried to think of what, if ever, I would send in on a postcard. I used to think I had too many secrets, but now I think I do not have any. I have been lucky enough to find a select few people with whom I share everything (whether they want to hear my thoughts or not, that’s what best friends are for). Yet, after the event last night, I do have one secret I want to share:
They asked us not to take any pictures after the first 5 minutes,
but I loved this secret so much I couldn’t help myself.
