Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret, a project comprised of secrets written on homemade, customized postcards, spoke last night to promote the art of self-expression.

PostSecret began as an art project in Washington in 2004 and has grown into an international guilty pleasure.

Warren said he has accumulated more than 190,000 secrets and gets about 1,000 a week mailed to his house in Maryland. In addition, he picks about 20 to go on the project’s Web site, http://postsecret.blogspot.com, which is updated every Sunday.

Warren looks for secrets that are surprising, funny or that creatively express a theme others can relate to.

“”All my life I’ve always felt we all have these rich, creative interior lives that we don’t necessarily get a chance to share,”” said Warren, who spoke in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center. “”I tried to create a safe, non-judgmental place where people could express these secrets and ideas that normally are kept inside.””

People send in secrets about their relationships, careers and hang-ups on body image, he said.

“”Of course, the most popular secret is, ‘I pee in the shower,’ “”
Warren said.

Warren said he puts one of his own secrets in every book.

“”Everybody who has sent me a postcard has been on a journey, but I’ve been on a journey, too, facing my own secrets,”” he said.

The exhibit began Nov. 2 and will last until Dec. 15. Anyone interested in sharing a secret can drop postcards in decorated boxes at the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership on the fourth floor of the SUMC, Campus Health Service and the School of Art.

The exhibit is in the Union Gallery on the third floor of the SUMC and features postcards displayed in clear plastic sleeves hanging from the ceiling. Several postcards are blown up to poster size and displayed on the walls.

The gallery has a special section for secrets from the UA community.

The art attracted accounting senior Michelle Hall to the gallery. She has been hooked on PostSecret for the past two years.

Hall said she has made a secret postcard but never ended up
sending it.

“”It’s kind of exposing, or maybe I’m just bad with snail mail,””
she said.

English freshman Alexandra Bernhardt said one of her friends has sent in a secret.

“”I’ve been looking forward to the presentation for weeks,””
Bernhardt said.

Anonymity is the key to PostSecret’s popularity, Warren said.

“”Sometimes I think there’s something a little bit liberating about revealing a secret to someone you don’t know and won’t see again,”” he said.

Warren uses the attention from PostSecret to raise awareness and financial support for 1-800-Suicide, the national suicide hotline.

“”I really enjoy speaking on college campuses,”” Warren said. “”I get most of the postcards from young people, and I think young people especially are searching for what’s authentic. They want to know what’s real in the world and in themselves.””