Sigalon's PostSecret's Soup

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail
in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.
PostSecret, 13345 Copper Ridge Road, Germantown, MD 20874, USA







































See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.






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I often find myself walking through busy downtown neighborhoods, passing by people of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds, going about their lives, hurrying to get somewhere, or trying to leave. All of them, a different face, a different life, a different story.

Whenever I see them, I can't help but think, what secrets are these people carrying with them every day, wherever they go, that no one else in the world knows about? Do their secrets weigh them down? Do we have any secrets in common? Do their secrets make them feel alone?



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Hey Frank-
We are fighting actions like this and working hard to raise awareness and understanding of metnal illness on over 300 college campuses. Join Us!


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Dear Frank,
I attended your "PostSecret Event" in Colorado. I stood and shared my secret about my suicide attempts which forced me to be honest with myself. Throughout the following weeks this realization has so inspired me that I have decided to volunteer for a teen suicide prevention organization here in Denver. You have changed my life and as a suicide survivor I want to help change the lives of others who are in the same situation I had been.

Enter your email at the top of this page to get a PostSecret Event Schedule.

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Thanks to everyone for all the messages of support. And again, to anyone who would like a refund for the PostSecret iPhone App, please mail me a self-addressed stamped envelope. I will mail you back $2.00 plus postage both ways.

-Frank

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Hello Frank

The greatest thing the PostSecret project has done for me is liberate me from false shame. My parents are addicted to meth and I was bullied day in and day out at school for years. But because of your project and the love of those in my life, I realized that my greatest pain can transform itself into my greatest strength. I am no longer allowing my abusers to get away with what they did to me and have started writing down all the secrets I kept in my past.       

Beauty can arise from ugliness. Your project has helped me see my secrets for what they are: Not a burden, but a blessing of strength and hope I could never have imagined.

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail
in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.
PostSecret, 13345 Copper Ridge Road, Germantown, MD 20874, USA






































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Frank,

On the PostSecret app, I saw exchanges from soldiers to citizens asking for letters or care packages...

The day after I dropped my fiancé off at the airport for his deployment to Afghanistan, I received a message from him stating that he wanted to end our relationship.

...I remembered the soldiers on the PS app requesting letters. I still have a lot of love that I feel I need to send overseas. Is there anyway possibly that those addresses could be forwarded to me so I can carry out what I feel I need to do?

I can be reached here: postsecretsoldiers@hotmail.com







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Frank--

I don't know if you'll actually read this, but I'll try. I thought you'd like to hear a heartwarming story resulting from the PostSecret App.

During the last week of the app's existence, someone posted a "secret" saying that she was looking for her half sister, whom she'd never met. She gave some basic information and asked the PS community to help. I am a professional researcher and couldn't resist a plea like this, so I hunted around a bit on the web.

I very quickly discovered that the poster's sister had responded to a request the poster had left on a website where people can search for lost relatives. The only problem was that the original poster had left her message in Nov. 2010, and the sister had not found it until Dec. 2011. By the time the sister posted her response, the poster was no longer checking the website. Fortunately, the sister was just as eager to make the connection as the original poster.

I took a screenshot of the sister's response and posted it to the PS app. Fortunately the original poster saw it, and e-mailed her sister.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from the poster saying that she and her sister had indeed connected and are now e-mailing each other daily. They hope to meet next summer--she is in Illinois and her sister is in Virginia. She thanked me for the "priceless gift" I had given both of them.

I just wanted you to know about one more wonderful thing that has come from the PostSecret App. I'm so sorry that some bad actors ruined it, but it did a lot of good while it was running. Thank you for creating it.

See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.





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There were a lot of inspiring people I met through the App but the one who touched me the most was Jewel from Colorado - I wish I knew how she was doing? Jewel, if you are reading this can you send Frank an update on how you are doing to share with us?









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Frank, Here are some suggestions for people still going through withdrawals from the PostSecret App.

1. Join us in the 100,000+ member "original" PostSecret Community.
2. Go to your library and read the PostSecret books, or buy them on Amazon.
3. Volunteer online at IMAlive (yes, you).
4. Mail Frank your secrets.










I received two letters about the PostSecret App last week. One asked for a refund "ASAP plus postage". I mailed him back $3.00.

The second letter contained $2.00 and a kind note that read in part, "Your project has been such an amazing influence on so many lives. Here's $2.00 please use it if anyone mails you asking for a refund." I mailed her $2.00, three signed PostSecret books and a personal note of gratitude.
(Thanks again Shana. -Frank)

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail
in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.
PostSecret, 13345 Copper Ridge Road, Germantown, MD 20874, USA

The PostSecret App has been closed for a week now and I'm still feeling the loss, like many of you. I miss the secrets and the stories of lives changed. Below, I've posted some of those remarkable stories and secrets. In the coming weeks, I'll share more of both. Add yours in the comment section below.

-Frank

Dear Frank:
It’s sad that you had to close the app, but before you did I was able to meet someone—a beautiful woman from Australia. I’m currently at the airport in Dublin, Ireland, waiting for my flight to Australia. I’ve found love on the other side of the world.





Frank,
I responded to a secret on the PostSecret App, someone wanting to be "Secret Santa " for others. That person chose 11 responses, me included, asked us individually what we wanted/needed and within a week I received a priority shipped package from "Santa". I asked for a food gift card for my homeless teen son and loose tea for my college age daughter. Santa sent me exactly that. I cried.

Times are bad and my income doesn't even cover basics. My kids dont know how dire my situation is. I want to keep it that way and santa helped. The same wk I scraped together enough money to get my heat turned back on.





Frank-
can you give us a book from all the app secrets? I know I have a few I will never forget! A book would be great to come out of all of this.





Glad I spent $1.99 on that piece of shit @postsecret app. I better get my money back!

[Apple has an App Store refund policy. If you are still not satisfied, mail me a self-addressed stamped envelope and I'll mail you a refund. -Frank]





When the PostSecret app first came out, I posted a secret that had a picture of 2 driver's licenses. One had a picture of me taken in 2004, when I had a cocaine and prescription painkiller addiction; the other was me in 2011, now five years sober. My secret got a lot of support and I hoped that seeing the difference in my appearance and health would inspire others.

Today--one day after the app was closed--I went to a convenience store to buy cigarettes. When I produced my driver's license, the clerk stared at it for a second, then asked if I had the PostSecret app. At first I panicked and considered lying--but then I said yes, and asked if she'd seen my secret. She pulled out her phone and showed me a screenshot of it. Turns out she had an addiction to painkillers as well, and when she saw my "before" and "after" pictures she saved it as inspiration, and got help. She looks at it every day.

Thanks to your app, I have not only made a new friend (we are going out for lunch later this week!) but have been able to help someone with their struggle with addiction. I understand why you closed the app and respect your decision completely, but I wanted you to know that it brought people together and saved lives. Thank you.





For that lovely lady living with cancer, I’m praying for a miracle. For the folks who don't have the heart to tell their huge dog that it's not a lap dog, I laughed hard at 2AM. And for the father taking dance lessons to surprise his daughter for her wedding...man i would love to crash that event. ♥





Dear Frank,

Just a note to let you know how much the Postsecret App has changed my life. November 4, 2011 I attempted to end my life. I've since spent a lot of time in psychiatric treatment as my world came crashing down around me. My psychiatrist encouraged me to journal because it would be "healing". I've tried and I've tried but every time I put pen to paper nothing comes out.

But I post secrets.

Dozens and dozens of secrets. Some are funny, some are shocking, some are vulnerable, and some even surprise myself. But they are mine to release anonymously and I shared them with the App. And the replies? Oh the replies! Complete anonymous strangers come together in humor and in sadness and you find that you aren't alone.

Through posting these secrets and sharing others, I've started to discover myself again. It's still going to be a long road to recovery, but there is hope. Last night when I logged on to read the Sunday secrets I smiled through the tears. I was happy I was part of the fleeting project of the PostSecret App. It was the shining star in the dark night of my depression. Thank you Frank for bringing people together. I will continue to log in every Sunday and read the secrets. Happy new year.




For 4 months 6 continents were connected through one app called PostSecret. We learned about people struggling with suicide, working through addictions and those fighting eating disorders.

We expressed our innermost thoughts and opinions and were greeted with understanding and support. We bought meals for elderly couples and paid off layaways. And we supported gay people and lesbians as they got up the strength to tell their loved ones.

We helped a dying person see the world through pictures. Most of all we realized how much we truly are the same. Although it is gone, I will never forget the PostSecret App and I will forever look at the world in a different way.

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail
in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.




See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.