PostSecret / You don’t have to apologize.

Hi Guys.

i hope it’s been a good weekend. Thanks for the kind words in response to the last blog. That one meant a lot as those are the moments when i feel like i have the best job in the world. Perhaps honesty is a bit contagious in that when one person goes there, it somehow gives other people permission to do the same… Also, really cool to see people talking about the things they’re thankful for in the comments.

As for tonight… As an organization, we are fans and friends and partners of both Hopeline (1-800-SUICIDE) and PostSecret. One is on the front lines of saving lives and the other is inviting people to tell their secrets and it’s sparked a conversation that is honest, creative and powerful. We feel a lot of common ground and believe in the work of Hopeline and PostSecret because what we all have in common is that we’re trying to invite people to reach out and take steps away from the weight and shame of their secrets and their pain, to begin to be less alone in those places.

In yesterday’s PostSecret MySpace blog, PostSecret’s Frank Warren interviews Hopeline’s Reese Butler. Reese started Hopeline after the suicide of his wife Kristin in 1998. Kristin ended her life in the midst of battling postpartum depression and Reese founded Hopeline because he believed that more needed to be done to offer hope and help to people considering suicide. Frank calls Reese his hero and i know that we would echo that in saying that we are inspired by his life and work, and we are thankful for his friendship.

Each week, PostSecret receives hundreds of anonymous postcards from people all over the world. These are people’s secrets and they are delivered to Frank’s door. The following postcard was featured in yesterday’s blog and i thought it might be powerful to post it here, and also to respond:

Response:
You are not a fake. You are not letting us down. You don’t have to apologize.

This movement (or organization or whatever anyone wants to call it), it began with people caring, people saying that too many among us live in secret and in silence. What would it look like to begin to talk about these things? What would it look like to really learn what it means to accept someone, to love someone, to try to help someone? What would it look like to begin to love ourselves, to get the help we need?

Our hope is that when someone wears a TWLOHA shirt, they’re not saying they have it all together or that eveything is easy now. We hope they’re simply saying that these issues matter to them, that they’re fighting to believe in hope and help, and they’re fighting to help others believe as well.

There is no membership process, no criteria for acceptance. This is a movement for broken people and it is led by broken people. This movement exists for you and people like you. It is yours as much as it’s mine.

We want to say that we’re sorry for your pain, for whatever it is that hurts and causes you to cut. We want to say that you’re not alone tonight. Perhaps more than anything, we want to push back at the lie called shame that suggests you’re stuck, suggests you’re fake, suggests you’re somehow failing us.

We’ve heard countless stories of people beginning to let go and heal and change when they begin to reach out for help. The first step is the one that most people take. We know it’s scary and uncertain but we believe that it’s worth it, that a better life is possible.

Would you be willing to talk to someone – a friend, a parent, a teacher, perhaps a counselor?

We believe that your story matters and that you’re more loved than you will ever know. We believe in hope and help, that these things are real and possible. You weren’t meant to live alone with your pain. You weren’t meant to stay in the broken place. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people. You were meant to be loved and meant to be known.

Thanks again for taking the time and for being so brave as to send that card.

Peace to you tonight.

jamie