What's Yours?

One of the fabulous parts of my job is when I get to go in every morning and search through everything from the Ottawa Citizen to the New York Times for the latest happenings in the art world. Generally, I am searching for articles and reviews regarding galleries, artists and recent exhibitions though, more specifically, I am usually keeping my eyes peeled for things related to the fine arts (which can be a rather debatable issue amongst some!).

However, every now and then, I come across something so intriguing that, although it may not really be up the fine arts alley, it is most certainly worthy of an honourable mention.

The most memorable review that I have come across was a few months ago in the Globe and Mail about a website that a guy had created for people to tell their deepest, darkest secrets. The rules being that your secret had to be submitted on a hand made postcard and your secret had to be something that you have never told another person before.

The result? A heart-wrenching display of amateur art and less than amateur confessions. The postcards poured in and so did, what seemed like, a redemption of sorts.

I spent a long time viewing people's submissions and in an intrusive sort of way, you feel like you should look away but, on the other hand, you appear to be looking at someone's freedom...the weight of their world finally unchained.

With Valentine's Day having just passed us by, the most recent submissions follow a rather predictable pattern but, none the less, the passion is there. The desire to leave the "untold" side of ourselves behind and walk away in another direction.

It made me wonder how many of us spend our entire lives trying to keep our secrets? How many of us spend our entire lives being trapped by a single moment or thought that we can't find the strength to admit? Is it because of what someone else will think of us? Or because of what we will think of ourselves?

We often say that our world is being plagued by a lack of grace and forgiveness. That over the years, our turn to violence and anger is a result of not being able to forgive other's wrongs against us, despite what the Lord's Prayer commands of us.

Is it not possible that the real plague is our inability to forgive ourselves? In not doing so, we have found ourselves with generations of people who spend their entire lives running from the ghosts of their secrets past? In turn, we've created an insatiable anger and instead of fighting for a cause, we fight for the person that we believe we haven't become.

We all have our little secrets and stories to tell. Some bigger than others but, either way, we all possess the ability to unchain ourselves from them.

So whether you find strength in a priest, a friend or the cosmic void that is cyberspace... what really matters, is that you find that strength...and use it towards the ultimate peace... forgiving yourself.

Peace be with you.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

-Gen