taking that a bit deeper
I just had a great conversation with my friend Todd from home who always has decent advice and keeps me on my toes on things. We were talking about being vulnerable and open and honest about things, and he said to me, "It's okay to be vulnerable, I can't do it myself, but it's true."
How true it is, how true it is.
So back to honesty and intimacy. I've always been interested in people. Sociology was fascinating to me, as was psychology and anthropology (but only cultural anthropology). Part of that is wanting to explore myself better, part of that is just an overall fascination with how we are linked and how intricately woven our relationships are. Why are we motivated to do one thing or another? Are there parts of us that are connected before even we know it? Of course I could probably go on some sort of existential speech here, but I won't. My point is that people and their wants and needs and desires, motivations, successes and failures are all fascinating to me.
That's partly why I read postsecret. It is a collection of postcards that people send to this guy Frank when they need to share a secret and can't with anyone else. I own the postsecret book and talk regularly with my friend Jodie about the postcards when they're up. Sometimes the postcards can be really disturbing, but in everything there is beauty. There is this sense of urgency for some of the postcards, like these people desperately need an outlet. They change every Saturday/Sunday, and there are probably countless books waiting to be written. I am often inspired by others confessions. I think that making and sending postcards has to be therapeautic in a lot of aspects. There are so many things that we hide from others about ourselves. Compelled confession loses something, but I think this kind of confession can be really powerful.
But this begs the question again, are we isolating ourselves so much from each other that we need to send anonymous postcards to some guy in Germantown, Maryland? People are seeking to be heard. Most every week someone writes in to postsecret and says that a card inspired them to tell their secret to others, or that they made a card and instead of sending it in they shared it with someone who needed to know. This is fantastic, but I just wonder about those who are out there lost and alone and hurting inside and their only outlet is making postcards. Communities that cared about each other would sure help. As much as I love postsecret, I pray that the people who share secrets can be real and open and honest with those around them.
How true it is, how true it is.
So back to honesty and intimacy. I've always been interested in people. Sociology was fascinating to me, as was psychology and anthropology (but only cultural anthropology). Part of that is wanting to explore myself better, part of that is just an overall fascination with how we are linked and how intricately woven our relationships are. Why are we motivated to do one thing or another? Are there parts of us that are connected before even we know it? Of course I could probably go on some sort of existential speech here, but I won't. My point is that people and their wants and needs and desires, motivations, successes and failures are all fascinating to me.
That's partly why I read postsecret. It is a collection of postcards that people send to this guy Frank when they need to share a secret and can't with anyone else. I own the postsecret book and talk regularly with my friend Jodie about the postcards when they're up. Sometimes the postcards can be really disturbing, but in everything there is beauty. There is this sense of urgency for some of the postcards, like these people desperately need an outlet. They change every Saturday/Sunday, and there are probably countless books waiting to be written. I am often inspired by others confessions. I think that making and sending postcards has to be therapeautic in a lot of aspects. There are so many things that we hide from others about ourselves. Compelled confession loses something, but I think this kind of confession can be really powerful.
But this begs the question again, are we isolating ourselves so much from each other that we need to send anonymous postcards to some guy in Germantown, Maryland? People are seeking to be heard. Most every week someone writes in to postsecret and says that a card inspired them to tell their secret to others, or that they made a card and instead of sending it in they shared it with someone who needed to know. This is fantastic, but I just wonder about those who are out there lost and alone and hurting inside and their only outlet is making postcards. Communities that cared about each other would sure help. As much as I love postsecret, I pray that the people who share secrets can be real and open and honest with those around them.
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on Monday, April 24, 2006 at 10:14 PM.
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