Essential Estrogen

Fair warning: Those in search of legislation and/or politics will want to skip this post.

This Thursday I get to travel to ISU and do something I've wanted to do for a very, very long time. I get to see -- close-up and in-person mind you -- Frank Warren as he presents the lecture PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives.

Warren began the PostSecret blog nearly three years ago as a community art project. He has since received over 50,000 secrets on decorated postcards. (The only rules are that it must be true and that it hasn't been shared previously.) The cards are scanned and put on the blog.

The postcards have been featured in many artistic forms, including a music video and Warren's books. A portion of the proceeds benefit 1-800-SUICIDE. It is anticipated that Warren will be sharing some never before seen postcards at Thursday's event.

For those who have never visited the blog, you might be shocked by your reaction to it. The thought of listening in on people's secrets sounds like a hoot at first, but then you actually do it and realize the absolute pain of so many people who walk beside us each and every day... such baggage being carried around.

Some of the art posted there hits home for me and I'll post the text of those here. (I'm going to refrain from posting those that hit *really* close to home.)

"I told my ex girlfriend that I didn't care any more. That she might as well jump off a bridge. --- And she did."

"I'm more worried about aging than I am about dying."

"I hate parents who have normal children and the perfect simple life that I wanted too!"

For those who like hearing people's secrets, but need something a little more... lighthearted... I suggest a visit to Social Moth. Maybe it's because of the art investment or perhaps even the postage investment on PostSecret as compared to the non-committed secret sharing on Social Moth, but items on Social Moth tend to be more everyday, random and off the wall. For instance:

"i left my vibrator at the hotel. i didn't want to call them to see if they had it in the lost-and-found. i'm sure they wouldn't have put it there anyway. i guess it's gone for good. man, i miss it."

"my eight year old little brother told me the other day that when he grows up he's going to have 'penis hairs'"

"Yesterday, I threw a granola bar at a homeless man off the Interstate because I couldn't slow down. I thought he would be pissed because it came so close to hitting him; but instead, he looked up, smiled and gave me a thumbs up."

In many ways, technology has brought us all closer together. With a few clicks I can tell you exactly what the weather's like in Hong Kong and maybe even find a web cam of a downtown street. There is no denying that technology has connected the peoples of the world. There is also no denying that technology hasn't been nearly as kind to individuals.

It use to be that I'd chat with other people around me while I waited in line. These days, I'm just as likely to pull out my BlackBerry and check email. I use to have friends who'd apologize for getting busy and not calling. Now they send me a status update on Facebook or leave me a comment on MySpace. I even have some younger family members who insist Twitter is the only way one should communicate.

If this was one of those nationally-known blogging sites, this would be the place where I'd call for a tech-free day. It would be a day where we'd all agree not to blog, not to turn on the BlackBerry, not to boot up the computer and would give the time we'd normally spend at a keyboard/keypad to a local charity. Of course, this is not one of those big blogs. At best I could convince maybe 100 people to take part in such a technology boycott. Of course, it would take us an additional four hours behind the monitor to plan such an absence. There'd be auto-responders to create, "I'm out boycotting" graphics to make and post, not to mention all those 'scheduled' tasks just so nothing would actually be missed.

So... the national technological boycott isn't the answer either. Maybe, for tomorrow, I'll make a point of not checking the BlackBerry when I'm in line. Maybe I'll return to the days of idle chit-chat with a complete stranger. Who knows, one conversation may be able to change someone's outlook on the day.

As for the rest of you, I'll hopefully see a few faces at the ISU lecture.