In my last blog post I talked about Post Secret and how its aspect of anonymity helps people to release their secrets. I will now continue that discussion by focusing on how Post Secret can empower people who view the postcards to share their own secrets, and the way the project has the power to help the creators as well as the viewers ‘heal’ and “find their answers” as a form of therapy.

Secrets are inherently very powerful, and as Evan Imber – Black writes in his article, “The Power of Secrets“, they have very “destructive qualities”, able to break down relationships as well as ones own sanity. Keeping secrets bottled up inside can be dangerous to one’s mental heath and so the simplicity of writing the secret down and sending it away can help to someone move on and let go. This action of release for someone struggling with a secret could be therapeutic, as we can see in the postcard pictured below that reads, “I’VE HELD ON TO THIS POSTCARD FOR 2 YEARS MOVED IT 3 TIMES, BUT I ALWAYS HAD IT PINNED AT MY DESK. I ALWAYS KNEW WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY… I WAS NINE IT WAS RAPE. THIS WILL NO LONGER HAUNT ME. THE WEIGHT GETS LIFTED NOW.” In this example one can tell that the trauma of being raped as a child has haunted him or her even into their adult life. Their struggle was evident, but once they released the secret they felt a sense of liberation.

The format of Post Secret benefits not only the person who sends in postcards but also those who read the blog, because it acts as a way for someone to relate to a struggle they are facing. When weighed down with a bottled up secret sometimes people can feel isolated and alone, like no one would understand their issue, or that people would be judge them for it, but Post Secret has become a place where someone struggling can find strength knowing other people face the same issues they do. On November 9, Frank Warren created a special post entitled “Soldiers Secrets”, where all of the submissions involved soldiers or their loved ones. Joining the army and going to serve in conflict is very  emotionally and physically hard for soldiers and can be devastating on their loved ones, and so for either party going through issues about the military, reading posts of people going through similar troubles as you can be very beneficial. A postcard such as the one below that reads “SOMETIMES I FORGET WHY I’M DOING THIS. BUT THEN I REMEMBER… IT’S FOR YOU.” could help a solider regain strength to go into combat, while the second one which reads, “I’m afraid if you come home with PTSD, I won’t be able to help you. I don’t want to lose you.” could be relatable to people who have loved ones in combat and have similar fears.

Post Secret is a very unique and powerful blog, unlike any other another form of personal narration. It expresses sincere truth in a public domain, something that is now rare in our world plagued with ‘reality shows’. This project is intriguing and connects people through common problems, and can therefore help people through hardships. Post Secret is more than just a blog, it is a form of therapy.

*First picture accessed from http://www.postsecret.com on October 27, 2013. Second and third pictures accessed from http://www.postsecret.com on November 11, 2013

This week in ASTU I was introduced to the blog Post Secret, an ‘ongoing community art project’ created by Frank Warren. The project encourages people to anonymously mail in homemade postcards with a secret written on it. Images of a selected number of postcards are then posted on the blog for the world to see. The handmade postcards themselves are visually beautiful, simple and creative, but the secrets they display are often heart breaking. Prior to Post Secret was Frank Warren’s first project called “Reluctant Oracle”. This project released ‘a new work’ every week for people to randomly find. It ran for about a year, with the last message being, “You will find your answers in the secrets of strangers.” This mysterious message could be thought of as a preface to Post Secret, and ultimately it’s main goal. Post Secret intrigued me as a particularly unusual form of life narrative that aims to help people release their secrets, empower others who view the postcards to share their own secrets, and in the process help both the creators and viewers ‘heal’ and “find their answers”.

We have been analyzing different types of life narratives in class, but it struck me that Post Secret was unlike the other forms of life narration we had worked with.  This was because all the posts on the blog were brief, created by different people and most importantly anonymous. Post Secret utilizes the power of anonymity, as a way to encourage people to share their deepest, darkest secrets; things they wouldn’t even tell their best friends, but are willing to share with the Internet because no one will know their identity. For this reason people are able to share tragic secrets like the postcard (below) that reads, “I Gave My Sister her First Drink Age 14… She died at 35 Liver Was Done. In this life narrative you can tell the creator of the postcard feels responsible for the death of their sister, a secret that for many people would be almost impossible to share. It is raw secrets like this that you wouldn’t see on a public site like Facebook or twitter, because the confession would be attached to your personal profile. 

Not all of the posts on Post Secret are as tragic as that example though. Many are light hearted like this postcard for example (below) that reads, “I’m a closet Miley Cyrus fan!” If someone were to post this a few years ago it would have had less comedic and culturally relevant value, but because of the uproar in reaction to the recent behaviour of Miley Cyrus, it’s easy to see why someone would secretively be a fan of hers, and want to confess this on a site where people are unable to criticize you. Unlike Facebook, where a simple, honest confession could face negative reactions and rude comments directed right to you. 

Now that I have talked about how Post Secret utilizes the unique power of anonymitity for life narration, I will continue this discussion into my next blog post, where I will talk about the aspect of how Post Secret acts as a form of therapy to help its users heal.

*All pictures were accessed from http://www.postsecret.com on October 27, 2013.

This morning amongst thousands of other drenched people, I found my self standing on Georgia Street, waiting for the Walk for Reconciliation to begin. The rain was relentless, but people had high spirits . It was the finale of Reconciliation week, a five-day event that’s purpose was to share experiences from the Indian residential school system, to form stronger bonds between Canadians and First Nations,Inuit, as well as Metis peoples, and most importantly to promote reconciliation between Aboriginal peoples and Canadians.

The reason behind Reconciliation Week and the Walk for Reconciliation dates all the way back to the 1870’s when in an attempt to assimilate ‘Indians’ into the dominant white culture, the Canadian government along with churches established Indian residential schools. These schools were ultimately created to destroy the culture of the First Nations peoples by “taking the Indian out of the child”, which as a result caused life shattering physical, and mental trauma that still impacts First Nations peoples today. For years the government tried to hide this appalling part of Canadian history, but finally on June 11 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the behalf of the Canadian Government to the former students of the residential schools. Soon after this apology former students sued the government, won the lawsuit and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established to help people in the healing process as well as to educate the public on the truth of the residential schools.One of the ways the TRC works to help people reconcile with the effects of residential schools are events like the Walk for Reconciliation.

Before the walk there was  an opening ceremony, where there were many speakers such as Chief Joseph, TRC Commissioner Murray Sinclair and Dr. Bernice A. King (the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.). One of the speeches that stuck out for me was TRC comminsioner Murray Sinclair’s, who on the topic of the repercussions of residential schools said, “Its not an aboriginal problem but a Canadian problem.” This quote resonated with me. Growing up in North Vancouver, my high school was on the tradition lands of the Tsleil-waututh Nation, and as a result I was able to experience some of their tradition dances and ceremonies. We also learned extensively about First Nations people not only in BC, but Canada, and how residential school affected them. So when I heard him say, “… it’s a Canadian problem.” It really dawned on me that reconciliation needs to come from both parties.

As a white Canadian I feel ashamed of how my beloved country treated the first nations people and their beuitiful culture, but I found that the walk was the perfect way to be a part of the movement. Walking together in solidarity, Aboriginal peoples and Canadians together celebrating and paying repect to First Nations culture. The walk was a refreshing display of peace and respect. It was powerful seeing the thousands of people who came out despite the terrible weather. It was even more powerful experiencing everyone moving forward together; physically and emotionally.

One of the themes was ‘Namwayut’, meaning ‘we are all one’.  As beautiful as the saying is, at first it struck me as odd. Isn’t that what was so terrible about the residential schools? Trying to conform the Aboriginal people into one supreme white culture. But the meaning is anything but that. ‘We are all one’ is the bringing together of people from all different cultures to grow and heal together, which is exactly what the walk did. It brought people together.