“I once received a secret from a woman who wrote, ‘My husband won’t have sex with me anymore so I masturbated with a cucumber and served it to him for his salad that night.’”
Believe it or not, hearing crazy and anonymous secrets like this is an everyday experience for Frank Warren, the creator of the largest advertisement-free blog in the world: postsecret.com.
PostSecret was created in 2004 when Warren walked the streets of Washington D.C., handing postcards to 3,000 random strangers and asking them to write a secret anonymously and send it to his home address.
The project escalated quickly, and since its creation, Warren has authored six books, been on National Public Radio and hosted TED Talks.
On Tuesday, March 28, Warren came to WCU to perform at PostSecret Live. Hundreds of students and community members gathered to watch Warren deliver an eloquent presentation.
He talked about how this journey began because of the secrets that were inside of him. He encouraged the audience to tell their secrets. He also mentioned that one of his secrets led to him being contacted by the FBI.
Warren delivered an excellent performance and made sure that there were microphones in the audience so that they could share their secrets at the end of the event. The audience heard revealing secrets of hardship, depression, breakups and sexuality.
Warren encourages everyone to share the things that lie deep within them. Sharing secrets bring people closer together and connect each other.
“Every single person has at least one secret that would break your heart. If we could just remember this, I think there would be a lot more compassion and tolerance in the world,” Warren said.
Although there was a lot of crying, there was a strange sense of joy and compassion as everyone left the crowded auditorium.
At the end of the night, Warren took pictures and signed books. He greeted all of his fans with a smile and thanked each and every one of them for their support.
Amanda Saleh is a third-year student majoring in communication studies with minors in journalism and Arabic. She can be reached at AS821872@wcupa.edu.