The Seahawk

Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: Lifestyles

Everyone has a secret. Revealing those secrets can be the most therapeutic and helpful tool to move on. Frank Warren, the "most trusted stranger in America," spoke Oct. 27 at 9 p.m. and shared the success of PostSecret. Warren has been featured on CNN, NPR and "Good Morning America."

"Secrets are sometimes more than secrets, they can be an apology, a suicide note, or even a love letter," Warren said.

PostSecret started four years ago. Warren said, "I started it because I was struggling with secrets in my own life."

Warren printed out hundreds of postcards with a blank side. The post cards read, "You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything -- as long as it is true, and you have never shared it with anyone before." It included the address and instructions.

What started as a project, turned into an ongoing success which includes four books and an online blog, www.postsecret.com. The blog is updated every Sunday and the four books are, "A Lifetime of Secrets," "The Secret Lives of Men and Women," "My Secret" and "Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives."

"Some people would say, 'I don't have any secrets,' but I always handed them a postcard because they are the ones with the best secrets," Warren said. After three weeks, decorative postcards with artwork accompanying the shared secrets were still being mailed.

At the end of the PostSecret event, students were given the opportunity to share their secrets. One by one, they made the trip to the microphone.

One student said, "I started smoking so my dad would love me, but he doesn't, and now I can't quit." Another said, "I used to make fun of people who were homesick at college, and now the joke is on me, and I'm miserable."

PostSecret is becoming increasingly well-known and the postcards were even used in the All-American Rejects music video for "Dirty Little Secret," which showed at the beginning of the event.

The All-American Rejects offered Warren $ 1,000 to use the postcards in the video, but Warren asked that they donate $2,000 to The National Hopeline Network instead.

ACE Chair Member Zac Stephens said, "This is the first year that ACE has done lectures. We wanted to do something more culturally diverse."

After the event, Warren signed books that were available for purchase, chatted with students and took pictures.

"Sharing a secret can be the first step in a much longer journey. Free your secrets, and become who you are," Warren said.

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