The inventor of PostSecret, Frank Warren, spoke Oct. 28 in Reynolds Performance as part of UCA’s Challenge Week discussing mental health. The event began with a speech from Warren and then opened up for other attendees to approach microphones and have the opportunity to share their secrets.
PostSecret is an anonymous art project where people mail in their deepest secrets on a postcard addressed to Warren. Warren then handpicks a few of the secrets and posts them on his website, where anyone can view these secrets. With over one million postcards and counting, Warren has appeared on multiple talk shows including Good Morning America, the Today Show and NPR. He also has six New York Times bestselling PostSecret books.
Deemed one of the “most trusted” people in the world, Warren said he feels fortunate to be able to hold these secrets for others.
Before PostSecrets, Warren was a volunteer on a suicide prevention hotline called the Kristin Brooks Hope Center.
“I feel like when I was volunteering on the hotline, I felt like there’s this conversation wants to happen but there’s not a place for it,” Warren said. “So, I think PostSecret helps with that. And it gives me a sense of purpose to which I like selfishly.”
Since Warren has received so many secrets in many forms of media, he said he has to deal with the information in different ways. A lot of the mail he receives can be emotional in different aspects, to where he has to internally deal with the information that he has just read.
“There are secrets and emails that I read and I have to say ‘I have to forget that,’” Warren said.
Warren said he has to tell himself to forget what he has read, but he also said he does endurance exercises to help.
“Every day I swim a mile, or I bike 25 miles and afterward I feel so exhausted,” Warren said. “I can’t hold any tension or stress. I’m kind of addicted to cycling. I rode a bike today and fell down. So I’m here in spite of my injuries, cycling to cope with secrets.”
Warren said that he does not see PostSecret as a challenging project, rather, he sees it as a mission.
“I feel lucky to be a part of it. I always get excited pulling secrets out of the mailbox. And how many of you could see me on stage I’m still excited telling the stories and I feel that connection,” Warren said. “I feel like the secrets help people and like being a part of that process makes me feel helpful to having meaning is kind of just happiness for me.”
Warren ended his presentation to the crowd with a word of advice.
“If I have to leave you with one line, it’s just something that kind of rings over and over in my head, and it’s ‘free your secrets and become who you are.’”
You can find Warren’s collection of secrets updated every Sunday on his website, www.postsecret.com.
