A Secret Story

Quotes of the Week

"People don't want their lives fixed. Nobody wants their problems solved. Their dramas. Their distractions. Their stories resolved. Their messes cleaned up. Because what would they have left? Just the big scary unknown." ~Chuck Palahniuk

"A lot of compelling stories in the world aren't being told." ~Anderson Cooper

"I actually think that secrets are just a part of human nature and that everybody should have some." ~Elizabeth Banks

Songs of the Week

1. The Ballad of You and I by Melee

2. Swing Life Away by Rise Against

3. Closer to Fine by The Indigo Girls

Recently, I stumbled upon Smith Magazine’s Six Word Memoirs project. It’s pretty self-explanatory: you write a story using only six words and submit it. Needless to say, this website is now my obsession. I’m positively riveted by how many confessions people can make online. It’s as if the anonymity of the website injects a dose of bravery into the writer. I mean, sitting across a table from your best friend, it’s hard, sometimes impossible to spit out the secret story you have to share. But somehow, putting it out there for a world of strangers to read is as easy as typing six words and hitting publish. The same phenomenon occurs on PostSecret, another favorite. Who has the courage to write their deepest, darkest secret on a post card and mail it in for possible online publication? Hundreds upon hundreds of people, apparently. And billions of people flock to the website every Sunday to read the newest batch of 20 secrets. It’s irresistible to toy with the idea of sending in a secret of your own, publishing your own six word memoir or even just whispering something in your friend’s ear during lunch. Why? 

Because everyone, every single person on this blessed Earth, has a story. Whether “I stay at home and play Wii” or “I had the best adventure ever,” these stories are truly a part of us. These stories, these experiences and adventures and mundane everyday events, they make us who we are. To get through life, we have to tell stories. We tell stories to make sure they’re heard. And when presented with the opportunity to share even the most precious of those stories with complete anonymity, the majority of people cave to the pressure. I certainly did. It’s a gift to share the tale that we have. The teller is imparting a part of themselves to the listener. When you tell someone a secret or a story, it’s a fantastic gift that you’re giving the listener. You’re sharing a part of yourself with them.

But maybe, just maybe, when you share that part of yourself with them, it dilutes the power of that story. Not by a lot, just a tad. What happens when three people know? Your whole lunch table? All of the sudden, that secret or story isn’t yours anymore; it’s everybody’s. This is always something that makes me hesitate the minute that my story is on the tip of my tongue, ready to come spilling out and cause a reaction. I absolutely love telling stories and secrets, but there will always be that handful of stories I can’t bear to tell. Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I want to keep those ones to myself. They’re mine and they’re special to me. I know what I was feeling at that moment, and I don’t want to have that diluted by my addiction to telling stories.  

And yet…I’ve already made PostSecret cards and drafted six word memoirs about those secrets. Sharing the secret or story with the whole world doesn’t dilute it in the same way that sharing it with just a few friends does. Perhaps it’s because the secrecy makes you bold. Perhaps it’s because you know that you’re doing it anonymously but there’s a chance someone could read it and recognize it as yours. Is it for the risk or is it for the sake of telling your story? You decide.

Visit these fantastic websites and see for yourself: PostSecret and Six Word Memoirs