Book Review - A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren
Category Book Review Frank Warren A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book
OK... I've now gone through all the PostSecret books at our library with the completion of A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren. As you might be able to tell, there's a bit of a theme on this one. Warren has created a compilation of his PostSecret items ranging from submissions from the very young to the quite-a-bit older. It goes to show that secrets and regrets cut across our entire lifetime, and age doesn't necessarily make them any less or more painful or funny.
The book starts out with secrets that many of us have had or experienced at some time in our adolesence... "I love him. He loves her."; "Dad, I can do anything... as long as your working by me."; "I wonder if my dad ever thinks 'I'm home' when he pulls in the driveway to get me here at my moms."; "I wasted my childhood trying to be grown-up. Now I'm a teenager and it sucks." Secrets drift through the middle years... (Over a drawing of a singer on stage) "When you said I wasn't good enough to be your girlfriend, I used it as my inspiration. Congratulations @sshole, you're famous."; (over a picture of a female archeologist) "I hope that someday he'll bury an engagement ring in the dirt for me to find!"; "Just because I try not to talk about it... does not mean I'm over it, that I feel better, or that I'm ever going to be okay. I just don't want to be a burden."; "I wish I could be someone's hero." As the book winds down, you hear the voice of old age opening up their soul... "Today is my 64th birthday. No one but me knows how lucky I am and how content and happy I feel!"; "I'm 52, male, single and childless. I've played my part in four abortions and a miscarriage. All I ever wanted was a family."; "I will die alone and happy."
About halfway through this book, I started thinking... what if one of these secrets had been written by someone about me? It makes you slow down just a bit when you wonder if you've been responsible for someone's pain, if you've injured someone without thinking, or if you've been the secret longing of someone who never had enough courage to speak up. That whole mindset added yet another layer of feeling over the things I read. I'm sorry to have finished the books, as I had quite the emotional impact from them. And I find that getting in touch with feelings like that is all too uncommon in my life.
OK... I've now gone through all the PostSecret books at our library with the completion of A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren. As you might be able to tell, there's a bit of a theme on this one. Warren has created a compilation of his PostSecret items ranging from submissions from the very young to the quite-a-bit older. It goes to show that secrets and regrets cut across our entire lifetime, and age doesn't necessarily make them any less or more painful or funny.
The book starts out with secrets that many of us have had or experienced at some time in our adolesence... "I love him. He loves her."; "Dad, I can do anything... as long as your working by me."; "I wonder if my dad ever thinks 'I'm home' when he pulls in the driveway to get me here at my moms."; "I wasted my childhood trying to be grown-up. Now I'm a teenager and it sucks." Secrets drift through the middle years... (Over a drawing of a singer on stage) "When you said I wasn't good enough to be your girlfriend, I used it as my inspiration. Congratulations @sshole, you're famous."; (over a picture of a female archeologist) "I hope that someday he'll bury an engagement ring in the dirt for me to find!"; "Just because I try not to talk about it... does not mean I'm over it, that I feel better, or that I'm ever going to be okay. I just don't want to be a burden."; "I wish I could be someone's hero." As the book winds down, you hear the voice of old age opening up their soul... "Today is my 64th birthday. No one but me knows how lucky I am and how content and happy I feel!"; "I'm 52, male, single and childless. I've played my part in four abortions and a miscarriage. All I ever wanted was a family."; "I will die alone and happy."
About halfway through this book, I started thinking... what if one of these secrets had been written by someone about me? It makes you slow down just a bit when you wonder if you've been responsible for someone's pain, if you've injured someone without thinking, or if you've been the secret longing of someone who never had enough courage to speak up. That whole mindset added yet another layer of feeling over the things I read. I'm sorry to have finished the books, as I had quite the emotional impact from them. And I find that getting in touch with feelings like that is all too uncommon in my life.
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