Things got a little less secretive at Carleton when PostSecret creator Frank Warren came to campus to speak about the importance of opening up.
Around 200 people crammed into the atrium of the River Building Feb. 5 for a multimedia presentation that shared some of Warren’s insights, along with a few PostSecrets that were too racy for publishers.
Warren started the PostSecret project in 2004, when—for reasons he’s still unsure of—he began driving around the boroughs of New York handing out blank postcards with his address, asking people to write something they’ve never told anyone, and send it to him.
Exposure was limited at first, but Warren said his blog blew up after someone sent in a picture of a smashed up door that read “The holes are from when my mom tried knocking down my door so she could continue beating me.”
By the time he took the stage, shortly after his 8 p.m. schedule time, the event was standing room only.
During his presentation, Warren spoke about why he thinks PostSecret is so important.
“There are two types of secrets—those we hide from others, and those we hide from ourselves,” he said.
First-year communications student Ayla Moreash said she has been reading PostSecret for the last few years. This was her second time at one of Warren’s events.
“Some of them make you feel better about yourself, and some of them make you feel like you’re not alone,” she said.
This idea of shared experiences was a theme Warren kept returning to throughout the night. He equated telling someone a secret to turning a wall into a bridge.
Moreash’s friend Nadia Mulholland, also a Carleton student, said she could relate to that kind of experience.
During the presentation, Warren told the tale of a student who was so dedicated to faking an illness that he actually had his appendix removed.
Mulholland said this was something that seemed all too familiar.
She said while she was in highschool, she faked appendicitis to get out of writing an exam.
The event was organized in part by Carleton University Students’ Association vice-president (student life) Hayley Dobson.
“It’s interesting to see other people’s secrets, because you see a bit of yourself in them,” she said.
The most touching moment of the presentation for her was when Warren played a collection of recordings people had sent him. Each one was the final message a loved one had left on an answering machine. Tear ducts were relentless in the wake of the disembodied “happy birthdays” and “I love yous.” For many it would be the last time their voices would be heard.
Tickets to the event were given away on a by-donation basis, with all proceeds going to the Jack Project, which promotes good mental health in youths.
“People with mental health issues—depression, abuse—these are huge issues that people need to speak about and hear about to really overcome,” Dobson said.
And as much as the talk was about PostSecret, it was also about depression and abuse.
Warren said at least a quarter of the people in the room would think about killing themselves, and a few would go so far as to make a plan.
He also spoke of his own battles with depression, and admitted that he’d thought about ending his own life.
It’s safe to say that Dobson, Mulholland, Moreash and the 650 million people who visit his blog monthly are happy he didn’t.
Warren put it best.
“The children almost broken by this world are the adults most likely to change it.”
