A Sweet Escape

Six years ago Frank Warren, founder of the PostSecret web project, launched a concept that opened the eyes of humanity. The project invites people from all over to write their own private secrets in the form of a homemade post card. The cards are anonymous, making them each unique and incredibly captivating; but these confidential comments can be found in other places besides the worldwide web.

Anyone acquainted with me personally is most likely aware of how large a “nerd” I truly am; even in shops like the Red Door I’ve been known to make a bee-line to the store’s literature (that’s a true story, my friends can vouch). Truth is, the content isn’t what makes or breaks a book for me. Instead I’m a sucker for an author’s diction or creative layout. So when I first discovered the PostSecret project in book form at the Urban Outfitters in Charlotte, I was sold.

As I perused through the book reading the secrets of people I had never known I found myself shocked, mortified, immensely saddened, elated, and impressed. There is a touch of intimacy involved when reading such private thoughts from even the most unfamiliar. The concept of anonymity is brilliant in a very soothing way, as I reveled in each secret I considered how genius it was for Warren to embrace such a new idea. The notion of people revealing intense parts of their lives under unknown personas is a very creative market for literature. I wondered why no one else had tapped into it, and then once again Urban Outfitters delivered and I found Bill Shapiro.

Similar to Warren, Shapiro captures some of the more passionate moments in the lives of real people. However, unlike Warren, Shapiro focuses on one particular bursting emotion: love.

Shapiro’s web project and book is titled: “Other People’s Love Letters,” and is filled with the private letters of affection only meant for the eyes of one. When I came across this book at the store I knew instantly I had to own it, and from the moment I picked it up I couldn’t put it down. I literally read this book from cover to cover, which is plausible considering even the covers are plastered with love letters. The letters are authentically pieced together in the book in their original form from post-it notes and coffee napkins to e-mails and cards allowing the book to hit even closer to home. It felt almost forbidden to read them, and yet it evoked some rather intuitive emotions.

All these letters from all these people got me thinking, and I found myself breaking out my own former love letters. I sorted through letters from high school and letters from college. I sorted through letters written for me, and letters written by me. With each letter I was bombarded with assorted feelings. I could literally remember how it felt to write them, and in turn, how it felt to read them. I became nostalgic for some of those old feelings, while simultaneously horrified by a few. A couple stirred laughter, some brought tears; but all in all, it was a nice hiatus. I wondered, what do old love letters do for you?

Shapiro’s book is proof that I’m not the only hopeless romantic using letters as a refuge from the real world. Who hasn’t written a love letter or two in their day? They are a window into a very fervent time in one’s life, and reading them can stir a multitude of emotions.

Looking through letters written by former love interests proved to be insightful. Each individual had a very distinct way of speaking, in this case writing, their thoughts and feelings. I became fascinated with the various wording each individual used. Consider our ability to say one thing in many different ways. With each letter I discovered similar themes, whether they were of heartbreak, an expression of love, rejection, or confusion the differences in these letters were the way each message was conveyed. I wondered, do we fully comprehend the magnitude of our words?

For example, some words sting more than others. Some words have the ability to make us melt; others make us want to punch something. The way one chooses to present something in words says a lot about them. Deciding the proper wording in order to describe, explain, or state something can alter the way one perceives that particular message. Maybe it is just the aspiring writer in me who puts such emphasis on words, but it is something to think about.

Once a boy referred to me as “magic,” we were in the beginning stages of something that had the potential to be extraordinary; and to this day all other descriptive words pale in comparison. That’s the funny thing about words, the right ones just sort of stick with us. 

Re-reading my own former love letters and those in Shapiro’s book was a sweet escape into the romance I’ve been missing in my own life, but it was so much more than that. The anonymous concept of the book allowed me the opportunity to take a deeper look into other’s more intricate emotions. I find the people who contributed to the book or Shapiro’s online blog to be very bold, while their identities are never divulged it takes a lot of courage to put that sort of passion out in the open.

I wonder if we refrain from the art of writing love letters because we fear putting ourselves out there for another. We could learn a little something from those who provided their own letters for the world to see. When was the last time you wrote someone a love letter/e-mail/note? In the age of text-messaging and tweets have we forgotten what it felt like to receive a real dose of someone else’s emotions on paper?