I just spent the last hour or so flipping through my flatmate's Post Secret books. This ongoing community art project gathers hundreds of secrets from strangers and compiles them into books, blog posts, and museum exhibits. Somewhat shamefully, I'll admit that I too regularly read the Post Secret blog.

Every postcard has its own story. Some are suicidal. Others are joyful. Many expose fear and weakness. Others give life to dreams and faith and hope. Regardless of its content, each secret represents a person who desires to be heard. 

Every weekend, I read the thoughts and feelings of complete strangers and say a little prayer that God would bless their lives. I pray that He would reveal to them that He knows their secrets and He cares about them. And, I pray that they feel loved and supported by a community- a real life, day-to day community; not just a virtual network of interconnected strangers.

What fascinates me most about the project is how many of the secrets are actually messages sent to recipients who will probably never see them. What would happen if these post cards were sent to the people who inspired their creation?

It seems that people love asking "what if...?", but rarely take the risk of discovering the answer.  What does that say about the interconnectedness and intimacy of our relationships with others?  What does it reveal when we would rather share our deepest thoughts and feelings with complete  strangers than those closest to us?

These compilations of secrets are beautifully tragic. Do you know what else is inspiring, yet unfortunate? This celebrated veil of secrecy has many contributors and I am one of them. I am the cowardly, selfish, lonely, anxious, forgiving, healing, silently rejoicing, passionately dreaming, covert author of secrets.

I have my own thoughts, feelings, stories, ambitions, and prayers that I withhold from those closest to me. I have never mailed my secrets on  postcards to a stranger, but they are encapsulated through artistic expression. 

Here is a secret of my own. I often write letters to friends that I never intend on delivering. I also pen poetry, sketch drawings, and snap photographs with others in mind, knowing they will never be shared. Sometimes, I wonder "what if" each of those fragments of thoughts, feelings,  and prayers were expressed? Fearing the answer, my creations remain unseen. Like I said before, I too am the author and keeper of secrets.  It's a beautifully tragic isn't it?

"Just don't let me disappear
I'm 'a tell you everything

So tell me what you want to hear
Something that delight those ears
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away" - Secrets, One Republic