Rambles at starchamber.com

May 27th, 2005 by Ned

My brother-in-law sent me this one today: PostSecret. The idea is to send an unsigned postcard with a secret on it. It’s an art project, and the cards the artist has put up so far are impressive little pieces of art in themselves. I have to guess he’s filtering out all the boring postcards on which someone has scrawled “I never flush public toilets.” In fact, the cards are so nice in some cases I start to wonder if the secrets are somewhat manufactured for effect. Still, there are some nice ones that have the ring of truth. I like the one that says

I miss feeling close to God.

… sounds like someone should consider moving back home to that Red State they grew up in. All this is reminiscent of the Apology Project, an installation by artist Allan Bridge that started in 1980 as an answering machine and an ad that encouraged people to call in and apologize for something bad they had done. That project grew and flourished for 15 years before the Bridge died. Here are some sample calls, including this dandy tit-for-tat tale from a Vietnam vet.

We all need to be absolved from time to time. Even so, nobody believes in the old cultural mechanisms that used to carry the load. These days, how many people would trust a priest with their secrets? It’s good to see innovation at work on the guilt frontier.

Posted in Uncategorized

109 Responses to “Postcard secrets”

on 31 Oct 2005 at 9:44 pm1amber

i still want him, even though he’s a bad person
on 31 Oct 2005 at 10:43 pm2Ned

Hey, if anybody wants to confess something here, be my guest.
on 02 Nov 2005 at 4:54 am3Lisa

I love my best friend but I didn’t even tell him I’d miss him when we graduated. I’ll probably never see him again.
on 25 Dec 2005 at 5:42 pm4Anonymous

I’ve been dating her for a month and three days. I found out I’m straight. I’m a girl
on 20 Feb 2006 at 11:14 am5Anonymous

I paid for an abortion because it would keep things easier.
on 20 Feb 2006 at 11:27 pm6Anonymous

i love to be used, its easier that way.
on 03 Mar 2006 at 11:19 pm7ajay

i feel as though i will never find someone that will ever love me!
on 03 Mar 2006 at 11:21 pm8ashley

i have feelings for so many guys but i just cant find the way to tell them! and if i do tell them which one do i want?

*worst part: i fall in love quickly*
on 03 Mar 2006 at 11:25 pm9ashley

if i could kill my step dad i would!
but iam not worried anymore he has cancer!
on 04 Mar 2006 at 1:48 am10mike

i have a girlfriend, i think its been a little over a month. i still think about my last girlfriend all the time. oh ya…and i like boys, sometimes. im soo confused.
on 04 Mar 2006 at 2:18 am11jhen

i’m starving for attention because he never gave me any. :|
on 04 Mar 2006 at 11:00 am12Linda

I have been using him because I have never been so broke in my life. Though he is pretty much broke too
on 04 Mar 2006 at 10:10 pm13danie

sometimes i wonder if i die would any one go to my funeral….wonder if anny body would care?
on 07 Mar 2006 at 11:41 am14anonymous

Im dating MY best friend but im in love with my ex-boyfriend and they dont even know…

p.s my boyfriend HATES my ex boyfriend
on 07 Mar 2006 at 11:27 pm15Kir

i love a boy and i wont tell him for fear that he’ll think i’m a freak. i have fantasies about him.
on 30 Mar 2006 at 5:46 pm16whatsername_x

Sometimes, I think my boyfriend would be better off dating my best friend…
on 31 Mar 2006 at 6:21 pm17Anonymous

My biggest fear is that my entire life is a lie, and even though no one knows it…God does.
on 03 Apr 2006 at 8:07 am18Confused?

I am scared that I might be gay, because I dont want my family to abandon me… But I might not have to deal with that problem, because I have never been in love once in my life… Am I the freak I think I am?
on 18 Apr 2006 at 2:52 pm19samantha

I can’t stop cheating on my boyfriend.
on 25 Apr 2006 at 9:11 pm20Kate

I hate my husband because he left me to go support his country and be a good husband by supporting his family. He’s a good man and faithful.
on 25 Apr 2006 at 9:14 pm21Kate

P.S. I’m also pregnant with his child. I wish I would just have had a miscarriage.
on 29 Apr 2006 at 11:35 am22needstoletitout

I was 17 and took the morning after pill for a guy i thought i loved and now im scared i will never be able to have a child with the man i really love… and im getting married in a few months.
on 29 Apr 2006 at 12:48 pm23cadence

a man i’ve loved for 3 years finally wants me and i’m not sure thats what i want now….
on 30 Apr 2006 at 5:09 pm24bandaidheart

My ex left me for someone else. We often talk about getting back together…and even though we still exchange romantic moments…I’ve lost nearly all respect for her for cheating. Every time we are together to sneek kisses I always HATE her in the morning.
on 04 May 2006 at 12:12 pm25NAJ11

I’m mad at my dad for wanting to work in Iraq, instead of staying with us.
on 04 May 2006 at 12:13 pm26NAJ11

I still have feelings for a former friend even though he is a bad person.
on 11 May 2006 at 7:45 pm27Lian

I wish that I could go back to the year when I had my best friend…and I wish I had told him how much I loved him before he left me.
on 11 May 2006 at 7:47 pm28Lian

I know this guy and you will never meet anyone more perfect then him…but his girlfriend is cheating on him and no one knows but me.
on 05 Jun 2006 at 3:56 am29Anonymous

I messed around with my best friend’s boyfriend . . .
and loved every minute of it.
on 05 Jun 2006 at 3:57 am30Anonymous

I wish she were still fat and ugly so I could be the hot skinny friend again.
on 06 Jun 2006 at 7:10 pm31Anonymous

i slept with my best friends boyfriend becos she got pretty and i want the boys to look at me
on 08 Jun 2006 at 9:24 pm32Anonymous

I’m hurt and this time i didnt fall!
on 13 Jun 2006 at 11:46 am33anonymous

i got my best friend fired, bcuz i didn’t like her working wit me.
on 15 Jun 2006 at 7:23 am34Anonymous

I had my chance.
I lost my chance.
I must move on.
on 21 Jun 2006 at 2:31 pm35Anonymous

I KNOW my mother and I will NEVER have a good relationship, so I turn to my friend’s moms instead.
on 21 Jun 2006 at 2:32 pm36Anon

I’m really afraid of love and commitment, but i don’t really think I’m that afraid of HIM.
on 21 Jun 2006 at 2:56 pm37Anonymous

i know that if he ever cheated on me again it would break my heart.
BUT i wish he would…so that i could leave him, FOREVER.
on 30 Jun 2006 at 4:37 pm38Anonymous

he’s finally dating me, but secretly i think we both realize that being together is not as exciting as we thought. I don’t think he regards me as that special… but honestly, he does things to make me think poorly of him. Still, I don’t want to break up. It’s been such an accomplishment getting with him in the first place! Now, I find his friend more charming and my thoughts drift towards him now. its bad.
on 07 Jul 2006 at 5:53 pm39Rae

I’ve liked him for about 5 years and he never had a clue.So I told him…Bad idea…Now we hardly ever talk.I think I ruined my chances…
on 12 Jul 2006 at 1:56 pm40Bree

I have told so many lies in my life, I don’t know what is true and not anymore.
on 12 Jul 2006 at 1:58 pm41Annie

I am in love with my best friend, he has a girlfriend and I don’t know what to do.
on 16 Jul 2006 at 12:21 am42bbbbbb

My mom will never love me as much as she loves the men in her life.
on 17 Jul 2006 at 10:30 pm43Anon

I can not wait until college when I can just be FREE for the first time in my life.
on 18 Jul 2006 at 6:30 pm44Mike

I am a cancer biologist living in the 63122 zip code with my wife and three children.
on 18 Jul 2006 at 9:45 pm45Brigadier General Sir Charles Uppington Smythe (Mrs.)

63122!? I’ve got a good mind to shut down this thread. Honestly! The things people will confess to in a public forum never cease to shock and distress me. You won’t find me going on and on about my obsessive desire to set fire to public buildings, or indeed mentioning it at all.
on 19 Jul 2006 at 6:00 pm46Tia

I think the point was to confess WITHOUT Judgement.
on 20 Jul 2006 at 11:13 am47Mrs. Equator

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, oooooh! I’ve wet ‘em!
on 21 Jul 2006 at 7:09 pm48Nobody

My mom is gay. I want to hold a dads hand so bad.
on 22 Jul 2006 at 12:33 am49Allison

He likes to verbally abuse me sometimes, and I think he’s using me, but I can’t stop liking him so much. Why do I have to feel this way? Why do my emotions always get in the way…
on 27 Jul 2006 at 5:32 pm50xox-emo-wishing-xox

my frends dont know but i wood really luv 2 be emo and i marked on my wrist with a pen but it sorta marked it…:S
on 27 Jul 2006 at 5:34 pm51xox-emo-wishing-xox

i luv my boyfrend bu not as much as my boy mate…
on 27 Jul 2006 at 5:38 pm52feelingbad

mah freind coodnt get over a boi tha she was with 4 1 month she coodnt get over him 4 6 months she kept on and on about him and on msn wood put sad faces and guns next 2 them….i wish she wood just do it if she sed she wood!
on 28 Jul 2006 at 2:04 am53SummerFling

I met the perfect guy during the summer of 2006. We dated for about 3 months; and now since we are both going away for school he doesn’t want a relationship or me. I am in love with a boy that doesn’t want me back. I just wish I could tell him that I love him and not feel rejected.
on 30 Jul 2006 at 1:37 am54Chai

Nobody really knows me because I lie to everyone about everything. I’m scared of my actual reality.
on 30 Jul 2006 at 1:39 am55Chai

I’ve never been kissed.
on 01 Aug 2006 at 10:39 pm56AutumnSoul

I constantly change shifts around so that I’ll close with the guy I like, even though he’ll never like me. I also fooled around with his best friend and want nothing more than to rub it in his face.
on 02 Aug 2006 at 5:54 am57Never spoken

I have never told anyone that I was Molested by my neighbor from the age of 4 tell I was 12. Im angry, Not so much at him as at my Family for letting it happen to me.
on 02 Aug 2006 at 5:58 am58No one

I’v been with my boyfriend for almost 4 years! I cant love him, I dont love me. I hate myself more and more every day, and he thinks I love him. How can I love me when I dont know who I am. LOST!!
on 04 Aug 2006 at 4:26 pm59xx_emo_girl_xx

i don’t think my parents love me as much as they love my dog
on 12 Aug 2006 at 5:57 pm60warped

I’m with someone who is perfect. He holds me on a pedalstole, and reminds me of how lucky he is everyday. I wish I could find a way to stop cheating, and not be constantly looking for something more…
on 14 Aug 2006 at 2:04 pm61justagirl

I hate my best friend, but i secretely wish i could be just like her
on 18 Aug 2006 at 10:34 am62me

i want to be with him, but all he wants is to use me…and i can’t say no.
on 19 Aug 2006 at 2:51 am63Anonymous

I HAVENT SEEN HER IN 5 YEARS, BUT I STILL CRY WHEN I THINK ABOUT HER.
on 20 Aug 2006 at 2:25 am64ANONYMOUS

WHEN I ASKED HIM WHAT HE WOULD SAY IF I SAID “EITHER THE DOG GOES OR I DO” HE REPLIED WITH “I GUESS YOU’D BETTER GET YOUR THINGS TOGETHER”

WHY AM I STILL THERE?
on 24 Aug 2006 at 2:15 am65Star-In-The-Sky

Everyday I make a wish, and today, I told my ex to make one too, he said, “I don’t really believe in that anymore.. I gave up hope..”
I miss you..
I know you miss me too..
on 25 Aug 2006 at 7:05 pm66Anonymous

i secretly like oreos with peanutbutter allover them
on 26 Aug 2006 at 12:25 pm67Anonymous

I eat eggs with ketchup.
Mmm..
It’s good.
on 30 Aug 2006 at 10:31 am68Anonymous

my boyfiend and i broke up because we dont want a relationship… but i dont want anyone else
on 04 Sep 2006 at 6:27 pm69Anonymous

I’m engaged to a girl whom i’ve been with for three years. She’s driving me crazy because she’s so negative and doesn’t like it when I hang out with my friends away from her. I think I love her, but day by day I’m losing that feeling. Now I’m starting to fall in love with a girl who is amazing and matches up with me incredibly well. I’m getting to the point where I want to spend my time with her, not my fiance. I don’t know what to do now in my senior year of college. I feel as though I’ve been living the past 3 years in entirely the wrong way. I’m scared of marrying her if I love another, and I’m afraid to tell her that I’m in love with another, and I’m afraid of what my friends and family would say if I left her for someone else. I’m AFRAID right now.
I feel like my heart is at war right now.
on 11 Sep 2006 at 10:54 pm70itsasecret

we only dated for a few weeks and then he dumped me. and now, we are friends. I’m falling in love with him and he wants nothing to do with me, but we hang out all the time. i’m starting to hate him for not loving me.
on 14 Sep 2006 at 2:12 am71Anonymous

i talk all day about how stupid anarexia is and how dumb you would have to be to be bulimic and then i go whole days without eating and when im in the shower i use the back of my toothbrush to make myself puke…

everytime someone says i look like i’ve lost weight i think “it’s working”
on 17 Sep 2006 at 4:00 am72liar

i constantly lie, im so good at it i sometimes believe it myself…i dont know the difference between fact and fiction in my own life…..and i dont know how to tell my boyfriend ( of almost 8 months ) i embelished on stories of my past life to make him feel bad if he ever left me.
on 17 Sep 2006 at 11:02 pm73Brittany

i miss the him so much i hooked him and my friend up just to be a part of his life again
on 20 Sep 2006 at 3:18 pm74jess

Over the summer I started seeing a 30 year old woman. I am a 17 year old girl. Everyone one said it was wrong but I honestly had never been happier. Now we dont talk and shes all I can think about.
on 20 Sep 2006 at 3:30 pm75Drew

I love her so much, but I wish with all my heart that I didnt. It’s tearing me up.
on 21 Sep 2006 at 1:04 pm76Mike

Lincoln’s in St. Louis
DE 09410218 B

…oh wait…

Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.

…uh…

I miss her when I close my eyes, and hit the streetlamp instead.
on 21 Sep 2006 at 9:32 pm77Ned

I loved George K58933162A from the minute I saw him at the Starbuck’s in Framingham, MA. I thought he cared for me too. He offered to buy me a coffee, and then boom! he was gone. Then I started hearing stories… first he’s in San Antonio, then Youngsville, then Baton Rouge. I still miss him terribly, but he’s such a tramp! For a dollar, he’ll do absolutely anything.
on 27 Sep 2006 at 12:35 pm78Anonymous

One day,
I went to school feeling like crap because of my weight..
I never realized how much I had lost until an old friend of mine said
“Stay off the crack! Your getting too skinny.”
Honestly, I felt happy.
And I’m not on crack..
It’s the exorsize and health food.
Who actually knew that worked?!
on 30 Sep 2006 at 10:21 am79J Wo

Drew is in love with her but I secretly want to be with him. I cant tell him because what we have is good enough for me.
Its has to be.
on 12 Nov 2006 at 9:45 pm80Anonymous

I miss being fat.
I had boobs then.
:(
on 12 Nov 2006 at 9:46 pm81Anonymous

I’m a lesbion.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 5:34 pm82Mrs. Equator

Does that mean that you are the offspring of a mating between a woman, who prefers the company of other women, and a male lion; or that you are a lioness that prefers the company of other lionesses to the company of male lions? Come to think of it, lionesses travel and hunt together as large prides with males assuming a peripheral role. It seems quite likely that under these social circumstances, one might easily find lionesses that never mate or avoid the odd male interloper. Thusly, I suspect that you are not the former, a lesbian-lion hybrid, but the latter, a lioness who prefers to stay in the pride and avoid the advances of male lions. This makes me wonder: first, where did you get access to a computer with internet access in the middle of the serengheti (I hope you didn’t have to eat one of those lovely Abercrombe tour guides), and second, how are you able, with those big, unwieldy paws, to use the keyboard without making any typographical errors?
on 15 Nov 2006 at 6:44 pm83ashlynn

i miss my ex best friend so much that i find ways to walk past him in the hallways at school. i think about him more than i should even though i know it only makes me depressed. i would give anything to go back in time and not have hurt him so bad. i love him more now that i lost him. worst of all…. he hates me because i cheated, and he shows me everyday…by telling everyone that i am a fucking slut. i lie and myself that he really still loves me. im so good at it i believe it.
on 18 Nov 2006 at 4:20 pm84**anonymous**

im jealous of my best friend because she gets EVERYTHING that i want…even the boys i like(and she knows that)
on 18 Nov 2006 at 4:23 pm85anonymousBAMF**

im afraid that no one will ever love me, and that i will be alone forever….im afraid that no one will ever love me, and that i will be alone forever….
on 18 Nov 2006 at 4:24 pm86anonymousBAMF**

i want my friends to be unhappy because im unhappy
on 18 Nov 2006 at 7:49 pm87Anonymous

I want you to know how much you mean to me. You show it more then I do.
Boy, I’m jelous of you.
on 18 Nov 2006 at 8:49 pm88ANONYMOUS</3

my family regrets me
on 22 Nov 2006 at 5:50 pm89Anonymous

i love him…but he doesn’t know it yet
on 29 Nov 2006 at 8:55 pm90...someone

I only like Asian guys.
on 29 Nov 2006 at 8:56 pm91Me.

He’s gay.
But I really like him.
on 29 Nov 2006 at 9:02 pm92Anonymous =/

When he said he has more pics of me then my cousin, I got happier. Sometimes, I feel he does really like me more then he likes my cousin. She just tries to get more attention. I love that he’s over protective, it makes me feel safe.
on 01 Dec 2006 at 5:23 am93justagirl

even when i am happy it never feels enough, i always want what other poeple have.
on 03 Dec 2006 at 12:42 pm94thatkidoverthere.

sometimes i read these secrets just because they make me feel better about my life.
on 20 Dec 2006 at 7:29 pm95chelsea

i keep telling myself i don’t care about him..but then i give into him like that…i want to be strong.
i need to be strong.
i need to move on.
i need to realize that he isn’t worth it.
on 21 Dec 2006 at 12:05 am96ella

the love of my life’s ex has cancer… part of me wants her to get healthy quickly… and the rest of me wants him not to care about her and her illness at all. I feel like such a bad person, and so selfish and cruel. But I just can’t help it.
on 01 Jan 2007 at 3:35 pm97Anonymous

i lie about things to make myself sound rich, im shallow and i hate it.
on 01 Jan 2007 at 3:37 pm98thatgirl

i think im better than everyone in everyway, and nothing can change that.
on 01 Jan 2007 at 3:42 pm99whoknows

i like that im more popular than my best friend and that im better looking than her.
on 03 Jan 2007 at 1:21 am100Mallory

i have recently stopped being friends with my best friend.
I miss her terribly.
I had so much fun with her and we shared so many laughs.
It was the lieing that killed me.
on 04 Feb 2007 at 10:00 am101Amie

The more people think they know me, the less they really do.
on 05 Mar 2007 at 12:58 am102Anonymous

I have a best friend, and we’ve been friends for 6 years. But this year I met a new girl. She’s more like me and we never fight. I’m starting to get sick of my old best friend, and she knows it. She gets mad at me for hanging out with the new girl. And really, I don’t think I could care less.
on 05 Mar 2007 at 1:06 am103Rain~

I love him. He is the only thing that makes me feel like live is worth living. But I can never be with him. And it kills me. Everyday I think about him. And it’s hard to live when nobody is there to help you get over it.
on 05 Mar 2007 at 1:11 am104Rachel

People think they know me, but they will never know. Because I’m to scared of what people might think of me.

And sometimes I wish -he- could be here to just give me a hug and save me from myself.
on 09 Mar 2007 at 5:48 pm105empty

hes my best friend and hes going out with my other best friend.
she cheated.
i love him
on 09 Mar 2007 at 9:56 pm106Anonymous

I think my mother is gay however everytime I ask she says she likes men. If she likes them so much then why did she invite HER to move in years ago and she hasne’t moved out yet, my mom is happier with her around… however sometimes I worry that she loves HER more then me :(
on 09 Mar 2007 at 9:58 pm107Anonymous

I’m scaried that I won’t measure up to everyones goals for me
on 11 Mar 2007 at 11:15 am108Anonymous

Sometimes I wish I were anorexic, just so I’d be thin.
Maybe if I were thin, he would like me as more than just a friend.
Although I’m fairly certain he likes my best friend more than he likes me.
It’s not that much of a surprise.
Everyone does.
on 11 Mar 2007 at 11:36 am109Anonymous

People always wonder why I freak out so much about being ignored.
I think it’s just because I’m terrified of being forgotten.

Postcard secrets

109 Responses to “Postcard secrets”

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