Where art and anonymity heal

By Jenna Smith and ChristianWeek | November 1, 2009

When artist Frank Warren asked people to start sending him their secrets on postcards he thought he was playing a creative prank. Little did he know that he would be launching a worldwide artistic movement that would involve hundreds of thousands of fans, multiple art exhibitions, conferences and the publication of two books.

In principle, it was a simple enough concept: write down your secret on a postcard, preferably decorated or collaged to match the words, and send it in to Warren, who has since been nicknamed "America's most trusted stranger." There are only three criteria for your postsecret: It must be brief, it must be true and it must be a secret that you have never told to anyone else before.

Since 2004, Warren has received over 500,000 postcards from across North America and Europe, and a quarter of a billion fans have visited the postsecret community website and blog. He created a mobile art exhibit in which the postcards were displayed and published a first book, Postsecret: Extraordinary confessions from ordinary lives.

The postcards demonstrate an overwhelming common need to share, confess and unburden oneself. Some of the postcards are hilarious: "I waste office supplies because I hate my boss" and "I gave my vegetarian sister a meal with beef."

Some are tragic: "My mom killed my dad, long before he killed himself." Some are downright disturbing: "He's been in prison for two years for something I did. Nine more to go." All demonstrate a different façade of the human soul.

The postsecret movement is a beautiful combination of artistic expression and spiritual quest. You can see how some people have carefully labored over their postcards, using colours, textures and images to tell their guilty, embarrassing, shame-ridden truths. These truths are painstakingly handed over, sometimes with a mournful frailty, other times with an explosive cry of liberation. This is a case of art being used to purge emotions, experiences and memories that are keeping people from being truly free.

It seemed it would only be a matter of time before Warren published another series of postcards. His second book, Postsecret: Confessions on life, death and God—launched on October 6—addresses secrets that centre on people's spiritual lives. We read about atheists who believe in God and believers who might not be so sure. One postsecret reads: "I am a Christian who is falling in love with someone who doesn't believe in God. I think it's a beautiful love story."

Another secret revealed: "Rationally I think the idea of God makes no sense. But I cannot get rid of my faith no matter how hard I try." While many carry that familiar tone of despair and loneliness, Warren carefully selected postsecrets that communicate much hope: "I am starting to love my pear shape!" or "Once faced with the situation when I thought I would die, I am no longer afraid of death."

In one of his many web videos, Warren explains the motive behind his new book: "We are always on a spiritual quest, whether we realize it or not…I hope that when you finish your postsecret you will care more about yourselves, care more for your friends and for strangers and that you will feel more connected to them.