Secrets

Everybody has them, and the thing is that they might be small but still important, something you feel about yourself and haven't shared with anyone else. Or they might be huge, a hidden crime, medical condition, or event in your past that you can just never bring yourself to share with anyone else. The essence of something being a secret means that it's hidden from pretty much everyone, and that's usually because of the emotions attached to the secret... how it makes you feel to think about or remember it, and sometimes you'd like to erase or ignore or otherwise act as if they never happened.

I'm a huge fan of Postsecret, a community blog built by Frank Warren but really created by the thousands of people whose postcards are displayed with their anonymous secrets for everyone to read. People in the community have talked about how freeing it has been to write down that particular secret and mail it off, as if a weight has been removed from their hearts. Maybe it's just the act of telling *someone* that helps, and it doesn't matter if it's a million strangers. In fact, telling strangers is probably easier than telling people you love and who care about (and therefore, may judge, you).

Telling people your secrets offers the freedom to be completely known, though that makes you terribly vulnerable. It allows them to see and feel your shame and regret and gives them the chance to judge and reject you because of what they've learned about you. I guess you could look at it as a learning opportunity.... if you learn something about someone that you just cannot accept, deal with, or get past, your relationship with that person should be over. You can't punish someone for, basically, learning something about them.

It's a chance to either know someone better or move on from their life.... though I'm still not sure that telling secrets can be a good thing. Learning, them, on the other hand, can't be all bad. Heh.