Slow, Sweet, Strong, and Subtle

Posted by Frank

https://postsecret.com/2025/08/31/transforming-secrets-into-stories-developers-needed/

https://postsecret.com/?p=50249

For two decades, we have shared millions of secrets, each one a piece of a larger story—our story.

Today we are launching a new project and are seeking contributors to help us build an interactive digital home for these secrets, creating a searchable archive that will allow us to discover new patterns, themes, and connections, and use these as creative catalysts to uncover new stories about us.

[Phase One] Developers: We need individual or business expertise in databases, web development, and AI to help us code the platform.

[Phase Two] Curators: We need your help to review and correct the words and images from postcards, ensuring every secret is captured with accuracy.

[Phase Three] Storytellers: We need writers and artists to work with our new tools, helping us uncover connections and discover new stories hidden within our secrets.

We are in [Phase One] now. If you can help with the following, please email me directly. frank@postsecret.com (Please share any relevant experience or skills). (Please don’t reply for Phase Two or Three now.)

• AI-powered text and image identification from handwritten postcards

• Integration of searchable metadata into files

• Creating a text, graphic, and semantic searchable database

• Familiarity with MAMP and MySQL 5.6

• Building a user-facing web interface.

Be part of PostSecret history by unlocking this global treasure trove of secrets in a new way, enabling deeper connections and a greater understanding. All volunteers will be credited on the project page and I will be happy to write personalized LinkedIn recommendations.

None of the analog beauty or anonymity of PostSecret will be lost. Our goal is to uncover and celebrate more humanity from the the growing collection.

As always, your contribution is invaluable. Thank you for your passion, your trust, and your secrets.

The post Transforming Secrets Into Stories: Developers Needed appeared first on PostSecret.

https://postsecret.com/2025/08/31/transforming-secrets-into-stories-developers-needed/

https://postsecret.com/?p=50249

Posted by Frank

https://postsecret.com/2025/08/24/emails/

http://postsecret.com/?p=20515

A friend from college told a bunch of us how once, he and some friends had dropped acid and then went to Disneyland. They started “coming up” just after they went through the gates. As they went further into the park, the person in the Goofy costume bounded up to them. Our friend felt freaked out, so he leaned in and confided, “Please, Goofy, not now – we’re tripping, Goofy,” …and Goofy leaned in and whispered back, “Guess what – me too,” and bounded off.

~~~

I sent a postcard with a drawing of my fiance asleep and a message about changing the alarm to spend more time with her. She found it before I mailed it and now we spend more time together while awake too. Thanks.

~~~

Two weeks ago I was placed in a psych ward for attempting to take my own life. I was sitting there alone until another boy came up to me and simply said, “You’re not the most fucked up person anymore”. Everyone was just like me, dealing with some kind of issue. For the first time in my life I didn’t feel like I was the only one dealing with these things. I felt normal.

~~~

I am a counselor in a locked mental health facility. We joke that we are just patients with keys.

~~~

I’m hiding pictures of us from the past 13 years under shelves and behind drawers.

My ex-wife takes half the furniture next week.

When she finds them years from now, I hope they break her heart.

~~~

When I bought my first vibrator I was so embarrassed that when the sales person asked if I wanted to purchase batteries as well. I told her no, that I thought “she can buy her own damn batteries.”

~~~

There are no words, in any language verbal or pictorial, that could ever describe how much I wish this postcard were for me. Today is my last visit to your site, never again. It hurts too much, seeing postcards like the one I need, knowing it will never come.

The post Emails Sent to PostSecret appeared first on PostSecret.

https://postsecret.com/2025/08/24/emails/

http://postsecret.com/?p=20515