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PostSecret.com - We all have secrets...

by Roswell Ivory

We all want to know what is going on in someone's head. Roswell Ivory uncovers the nosy girl's Holy Grail, a delicious website that lets you see other people's secrets... and maybe confess your own.

I've been an inquisitive person for as long as I can remember and am also a sucker for good gossip (a typical writer really) so accidentally coming across www.postsecret.blogspot.com was like uncovering the nosy girl's Holy Grail!

What's www.postsecret.blogspot.com?

In November 2004, god-of-all-snoops Frank Warren (an artistic type with some time on his hands) decided to do a community art project which involved handing 3000 blank postcards out to total strangers and asking them to anonymously write one of their secrets on it and then mail it to him. All in the interest of art, of course... After all, everyone has a secret.

That was three years ago and to date, Frank has received over 10,000 homemade postcards with other peoples secrets on them. Some are funny ('I think priest cassocks are hot!'), some are sad ('I used to be pretty...'), some are frightening ('I was seven years old the first time I attempted suicide') and some are happy ('I believe in destiny, and I think I know mine' )

So what's a guy to do with all these juicy secrets on pretty decorated postcards?

Post them on the internet, of course!

Isn't that a little bit... illegal?

Nope - by posting the secret, the writer agrees to have the secret on the net for the world to see. It is anonymous, and some of these postcards have hidden (or not so hidden) messages in there too.

Sounds intriguing: WHERE?

At www.postsecret.blogspot.com – There are new secrets posted every Sunday, and people's responses to the secrets are posted whenever they're received.

Ok, so I'm a gossip, but what else is in it for me?

Are you interested in: writing, art, philosophy, people, detective-work and clues, psychology or sociology?

When I get writer's block, this is now the first place I look at for inspiration, instead of giving up and playing ten games of Freecell, slacker that I am!

Some postcards include photos or handwriting waiting to analysed if that's your thing... and it's an interesting psychological experiment, asking strangers to bare their souls, and even more interesting that they have done so.

What about feeling lonely, depressed, or wildly happy? Everyone has a secret and just reading the darkest most hidden feelings of random strangers can make you feel less alone on this little blue-and-green planet. (Seriously. Count the number of people who's secret is that they are lonely...)

There's something familiar about this website!

Have you seen the video for 'Dirty Little Secret', by the All American Rejects? Yep, those cards the people hold up were secrets that had been submitted to the website and then borrowed for the video.

Any more info?

If you want to mail in your secret, the guidelines and address are both on the website. If you want to read more secrets and can't wait a whole week, three Postsecret books (yes, books) are available at Barnes and Noble, Borders and Chapters bookstores. Or good old Amazon... If you live in the States, there's also info about Postsecret get-togethers.

Well, I found it interesting and now check the secret files for potential story plots each week, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Oh, and there's always a rather 'unique' confession there : so no matter how bad life gets, at least you're not 'the person with that secret', and if you do also have 'that' secret - there you go, you're not alone!

About the author

Magdalena Knight

Magdalena Knight is one of the co-creators of Mookychick. When she isn't dancing, drinking, eating, trawling second hand shops or watching horror flicks she edits this site, writes shorts, and basically puts herself about a bit. She would like some freelance writing work please. Or a pony. She loves you all.

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