访谈录[Interview]2007-11-03:秘密集中营

Frank Warren was once just another man. Now he is the keeper of secrets. Hundreds of thousands of people all over the world have used his website postsecret.com to release the unbearable¹ weight of the secrets they carry. They send him anonymous² secrets on postcards and he places them on the site for the world to see.

Postsecret is a project I started about 3 years ago. I passed out 3000 self-addressed postcards to strangers in Washington DC, inviting³ people to share a secret with me, something that was true and something they had never told anyone else before.

So you handed out these postcards. What were you expecting people to write back?

Well that was a part of the mystery. I had no idea what would happen when I started this project. And I got two surprises. One was people began to hand-make their own homemade postcards. The idea spread virally. And I started getting postcards from all across the country and now all around the world. In just 3 years, I’ve received over 165,000 artfully decorated postcards with secrets from around the world.

Why did you do this?

Well I think in my childhood I probably grew up in a household that has some secrets, some that I knew about and some that I never found out about, and so maybe the mystery of those secrets and the wondering about them in my childhood led me as an adult on this, this quest for secrets.

Is there a reason why people send postcards and not letters?

I think there is something special about postcards. All the way along its journey, it’s exposed, you are sharing that secret and the secret itself almost takes on a life of its own as it’s on this card and going through the postal⁴ service.

Absolutely, I am sure the postal service people love these things. Right?

Oh, my mail-carrier is named Kathy. I have a great relationship with her . I asked her one time, what her favorite, her favorite postcard was, her favorite secret she had seen, and of course you know the postal services are not supposed to read the postcards that're going through. But she told me her favorite one and she said it was one that said, I used to work at the post office and we used to read everybody’s postcards. Are you guys doing that?

Have you ever got the secrets you refused to post?

I don’t really consider myself a filter or a censor⁵. If people mail me a secret, and it has that ring of authenticity⁶ to it, I'll post it. I'll post anything. Some of the secrets are very painful and very deep and dark. Others are hopeful and funny and sexual and poetic⁷ and I think that’s one of the beauties of the project, coz it really puts us back in touch with an uncensored part of who we are.

You think this is like a, a sort of a penance⁸ for people, a way to get some weight off their shoulders?

I have received some e-mail follow-ups from people and what they have said is that, facing their secret on a postcard and then physically⁹ letting it go to a stranger has brought them a sense of solace¹⁰ or relief or, or ownership over that experience or secret. So I think also it can be the first step in a person’s long journey in reconciling with the part of their past that they might have been hiding from.

Frank has also compiled the secrets into four books, his most recent book, A Lifetime of Secrets, was released just in time for Halloween.

1 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

2 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

3 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

4 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

5 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

6 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

7 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

8 penance   

n.（赎罪的）惩罪

参考例句：

• They had confessed their sins and done their penance.他们已经告罪并做了补赎。
• She knelt at her mother's feet in penance.她忏悔地跪在母亲脚下。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

10 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。