Recently, my school participated in a Post Secret project. If you’re not familiar with Post Secret, it’s basically a community project that allows people to submit their secrets anonymously. Large display boards were stationed around campus for students to hang their anonymous secrets on. There were so many cards posted to the board, I couldn’t help but get distracted on the way out of my office and take a look. What I saw next was pretty eye opening for me. There were all sorts of messages being displayed. The messages ranged from an attempt to be funny to very serious. A few in particular stood out to me.
“I have attempted suicide.”
“I consider myself a f*ck up.”
“I secretly wish I were white so more people would accept me.”
“I’m so afraid of failing that I don’t even want to try.”
These messages were written by students I walk past on campus daily, the same students that could even be sitting right next to me in class. After reading these, it reminded me of one thing: we live in a very judgmental world. We are all so quick to judge others, but what we forget is that everyone has their own battles they are struggling with. I’m sure most would think twice about bullying someone if they knew that person had previously attempted suicide.
Nobody is perfect. Some are meaner than others and some try harder to be nice than others. That’s how I view most people. I like to think that there are more good than bad out there. It’s human instinct to draw assumptions and judge, but while we’re all trying to better ourselves and think twice about our actions, let this be a friendly reminder.
The Grits Blog says
Ohhh girl – this is a deep post. That quote is so true – you really never what's going on behind closed doors.
Tracy J/yeaiknowimshort says
I love Post Secret and I check it out every single Monday morning. I even bought the book!
Kate at Green Fashionista says
Wow, it pains me that so many people are so deeply hurting and they feel they have no one to turn to 🙁
Jenni@FlyingOnARainbow says
This is a great post. I think we all get so caught up in our own battles that we forget everyone else has them too. This reminder is eye opening, we definitely need to spread more kindness and less judgement.
Jess says
I think Post Secret is a great way for people to secretly vent. sometimes just admitting a feeling or secret helps you cope with it.
Tiffany Khyla says
I love Post Secret. It's amazing how much we don't know about the people we think we know.
Kate @ Another Clean Slate says
Oh wow- what an eye opening experience!