On Friday a couple of long awaited packages arrived from Amazon and CD-wow and so I have been enjoyng the contents this weekend.

A number of books and cd’s were in the package. In particular I have been waiting for Postsecret which I pre-ordered a few weeks back and was published on November 2nd. (Amazon are still selling it at 50% discount!)Postsecret is a collection of postcards from the postsecret blog which I visit every Sunday when Frank Warren posts a new page.

A few years ago, Warren developed Postsecret as a community arts project. Basically, people send in, or confess, secrets on a postcard which are then posted on a blog. ‘Extraordinary confessions from ordinary lives’ says Warren on the back cover of this outstanding book.

Looking through the book makes me want to laugh and cry. The shared emotions here are both deep and raw. What started as a commuity art project has become something massive and amazing. People send in secrets on postcards. People go to great efforts to be creative with their cards as they reveal their deepest fears, desires, regrets and obsessions. I find these cards powerfully emtional as the book says I will!

The book is beautiful.
It’s beautiful due to the unique creativity displayed within each card.
It’s beautiful due the blend of unique and universal emotions being shared.
It’s beautiful due to the honest reality being exposed.
Within that beauty, I am wondering ‘why?’

Why do people send in their confessions?
Why are they so (sometimes painstakingly) creative?
What is happening here?
What do these people think they are doing?
Is this a postmodern progression from the catholic confessional or just some fun?
Is this evidence of a need to have an opportunity to confess in an anonymous way?
Does this project help people speak out, and get over, their guilt?

It’s great art, but I wonder if there is a lot more to think on here …