In the midst of my reading block, there was one book which I read from cover to cover in one evening. Mind you, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God by Frank Warren is as much a book to enjoy visually than to “read” as such.

Je t’ai quitté parce qu’elle habite 1km plus près que toi. [I left you because she lives 1km nearer than you.]

For those of you not already familiar with the PostSecret project, Frank Warren has since 2004 been asking people to anonymously send their secrets on a postcard to his home in Maryland. They can say anything, as long as it is true and has never been told to anyone else before. Every Sunday he puts a selection of the postcards (and, as they come in, some of the emailed responses to them) on his blog.

I make up sins so I can go to confessional and shock the priest.

I first heard about the project a couple of years ago. The Guardian weekend magazine used to print one per week. I was immediately fascinated by the combination of touching, sad, funny, irreverant, and warm secrets people would send in. Anonymity is freeing. One can say so much more.

As being a Conservadox Jew, I dressed up in a Santa Claus outfit to deliver gifts to needy children.

The author blurb at the back of the book tells me that since the project began, Frank has received some 400,000 anonymous secrets from all over the world. They have been featured not only on the PostSecret blog, but also museum exhibitions, a music video, and several PostSecret books. This one is the most recent. I don’t even know if it is officially published in the UK; mine was shipped from the US. I’m assuming I can’t post any pictures of the postcards here, so interspersed through this post are a few of the secrets from this volume.

I’ve spent more time making this Easter basket than I have praying all year.

If you’ve not already got PostSecret on your RSS reader, then GO GO GO and add it now. Reading PostSecret is one of my favourite things about Sunday morning. And if the concept of this project isn’t enough to tempt you (and it should be) then maybe this will: through the PostSecret project, Frank has been awarded the (American) National Mental Health Association’s “forWARD” award for raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention.