Postcards from the edge

I was having my monthly dosage of Madison and I came across this really fascinating article which caught my eye instantly.

"Postcards from the edge"

What caught my attention first and foremost were how authentic the postcards look. They were not taken my famous photographers. Neither were they published by a famous company.

The postcards were raw, emotional, down-right honest. I can't actually describe them but you have to see them for yourself.

You're probably thinking, DUH. How stooppidd? You have the magazine; we don't.

Alas!My dearest readers, this is where technology plays a role. See, the author kindly revealed the website address so that we mere mortals could gain access to the in-depth postcards.

But duckies (Mich! Quack quack! LOL) *ehem* I will give the address later on towards the end of the blog. Can't give you now because then you will skip to that website and read this post half way. Tsk tsk. We can't have that can we?

Excerpts from the article:

"The instructions were simple. 'You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear betrayal, desire, confession or childhood humiliation. Be brief. Be legible. Be creative.' "

"Each day , more came, bearing the senders' very private thoughts, prompting Warren to set up an online gallery to display the most provocative, profound and artistic. Each week he would reflect upon the secrets and try to share a representative sampling of what he had received."

"Warren estimates he has received 3000 postcards from anonymous confessors around the world."

"Geographically, the postcards of secrets came from across the world. Emotionally they originate from a place populated by the regretful, confused and guilty.

Couples struggle with the knowledge that their marriage has been emptied of love, grown men mourn for the time they didn't spend time with their parents, employees worried that their job is killing their soul."

"Warren insists that postcards are personalised, so each confessor has to spend time with their secret, planning the visual imagery to frame the revelation. The end results are often heartbreakingly powerful.

Scrolling through the site is like walking past a crowd of strangers and being able to peer deep into their souls. It is an emotional x-ray machine which reveals what we most wish to conceal."

" 'Why do they send them? Some people seem to be asking for absolution,' says Warren. 'I started to understand that when someone shares a dark secret, they enlighten their load. But the other person walks away a little bit heavier.'

"For the anonymous contributors and the visitors and for Warren himself, the most profound realization that comes from peering so deeply into the souls of the postcard senders is this: the things that make us feel so abnormal are actually the things that unite us in some way or another."

And you know what? After reading the article and looking the postcards I realise we are all the same. Irrespective of the colour of our skin, our religion, our ethnic background, our nationality, we all have skeletons in our closets.

Deep mysterious secrets that no one has to know for fear that the world will see us in a different light.

I have many skeletons in mine. Im sure you do too. I think this is a good form of therapy. I might just send a postcard myself. =)

If you're interested:

PostSecret
13345 Copper Ridge Rd
Germantown, Maryland
USA 20874-3454

With that I end it with this postcard. It touched me.