Everyone has secrets, author says
Suicide is America’s secret, said Frank Warren, author of the PostSecret blog and several books.
Warren gave a speech to Utah State students and community members Wednesday night in the TSC.
PostSecret began as a community art project when Warren hand delivered and anonymously gave away thousands of pre-paid postcards. These postcards invited people to mail Warren with their secrets, he said.
But the postcards didn’t stop coming when Warren stopped handing them out.
“It didn’t end there,” Warren said. “The idea of PostSecret spread all around the world.”
The PostSecret blog and books are now used as a means of raising awareness and funds about suicide, the largest cause of preventable death in the United States, Warren said.
Each week Warren receives about 1,000 postcards with a variety of secrets, ranging from infidelity to a history of child abuse, he said. He also receives postcards on a variety of materials and some have intricate artwork or beautiful poetry, Warren said.
“There are two types of secrets: ones we keep from others and secrets that we hide from ourselves,” Warren said.
There is a liberating feeling that is gained when a secret is shared, Warren said, and there is a power in sharing secrets that can help people connect.
“I want people to leave this presentation tonight knowing that all of us have a secret that could break our heart, if we only knew what it was,” Warren said.
In all the major news media outlets, crime and murder are often covered. However, suicide is rarely talked about, even though there are approximately twice as many people that commit suicide as the number of homicides in the United States, Warren said. The reality of the situation is not reflected in the media, he said.
Warren said the best way to prevent suicide is by placing a barrier, removing dangerous items such as guns or powerful prescription medication from the home of someone who is potentially suicidal.
The motive for sending in a deep secret that no one else in the world may know is different for each person, Warren said. Some are funny, some are sexual taboos and some do it for greater self-authenticity, he said.
“The act of sharing a secret can be transformative,” Warren said.
The blog, postsecret.blogspot.com, is a nonprofit blog that has had nearly 250 million visitors and advertises for HopeLine, a suicide helpline. And when HopeLine was facing financial difficulties that nearly brought the organization under, Warren said he posted a call for help on his blog and in one week 900 readers raised $30,000.
Social media, such as blogs and Twitter, are changing the way communication is done, Warren said.
“They’re new tools of communication that allow us to have new kinds of conversations. Conversations that have never been possible before. Conversations that allow us to hear unheard voices and share untold stories,” Warren said.
The presentation ended when Warren asked members of the audience to share their own secrets. The secrets ranged from tales of a one-time substance abuse, to a story about the reuniting of a mother and daughter. Each member of the audience was given a postcard and the invitation to write a secret down and share it.
Warren has given speeches at about 100 college campuses. After each presentation, students give him postcards with secrets, he takes all of those postcards back to his hotel room and sticks them in the Bible that most hotels have in the rooms, in the Book of Job, Warren said. It’s not for the writer’s benefit, but for someone that may be in a difficult situation later on, he said.
“I believe we all have secrets and we decide to bury them deep inside or share them with people we trust,” Warren said. “Free your secrets and become who you are.”
Warren has received more than 300,000 postcards, appeared on most of the major news-network stations and was rated in the top five Web celebrities by Forbes magazine.
–seth.bracken@aggiemail.usu.edu
