Lately, I have been thinking: humans need confession.
They need to be able to admit how they feel and why- whether it be a dark secret or a beautiful revelation- they need to say it, write it, put it out there. And confession is so much more about connection than relief. Catholics go to priest and their secrets, their sins, their struggles, their joys are kept- no one else has to know. I think that it is a fine practice. But that can't be the only way to confess. Now, there is something else rocking the world- online- a realm that opens up a connection between people all over the globe.
First there is Post Secret. I heard about this some time ago and thought it was a brilliant idea. Frank Warren began by passing out post cards with a mailing address and even encouraged people to design their own post cards and send it in with their secrets. There were no restrictions and no preferences for the project, just people's secret confessions. In 2005, Warren created the Post Secret blog-site and the world saw pictures, artwork, secrets that they could identify with. It was and is incredible. There have since been books, videos and other media that display the secrets that people send to Warren, people who are trying to connect.
Recently, Amos posted a blog linking to a website called 300 Letters. The girl, Asia Wong, who started this project decided that she wanted to write 300 letters and send them to complete strangers. For her is was a way to "train" her "heart to feel" much like and artist my "train their eye to see." While the letters themselves were addressed to people she knew, the letters would be sent to anyone and everyone who might come across them- the mail man, a woman on the street, a family from another town. She says the project is about relationships and love. She says that she wants to be able to write to anyone, to connect with anyone. The website is colored squares and each color represents and different kind letter and when you click on the square it takes you to a scanned version of that letter she wrote. I think it is a work of art and truly beautiful.
Finally- I learned about a website called, "We Feel Fine." It was started by a man named Jonathan Harris. The website digitally searches for blogs, comments, etc that use the word "feel." It copies the entire phrase or sentence and pulls together data about where in the world that person is posting that "feeling" and puts together statistics of various emotions that people are experiencing. It scans every so often and updates- and certainly restricted to folks around the world who claim what they are feeling. If the phrase is accompanied by a picture, "We Feel Fine" copies it and aligns it with the feeling. It's an amazing thing- it's like confession in reverse and it's interesting to see what people are feeling.
I know that I have gone through these sites and seen things here or there that I think I can identify with. People need an out. Confession can be just that. People need to know that they are not alone. Admitting secrets can be just that. People are creative. People want to be heard. Beautiful or ugly, their words make a difference to them.
I found this "phenomenon" to be incredible and I wanted to share. Maybe you, too, will be moved.
That's pretty emotive stuff, Ash. Honesty is certainly a challenge. Being able to admit to yourself, and others, the things that occupy and clutter your mind is liberating. Exposing oneself is a humbling experience. Most people have something in their life that they will take to their grave..... Honesty is not necessarily an easy thing to hear either. And that to me is where forgiveness and understanding comes into play, and that's one hell of a challenge too, but an indispensable one none-the-less. We gotta remember that there is generally someone that's going to recieve the confession as well, whether they are known or anonymous.
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