This is from 2015:
Dear Frank,
I was the one who sent you this secret.
I had written the note, thinking that life would never get better than my depressed, 14-year old existence. But for whatever wonderful reason, I kept going. Oddly enough, I didn’t get rid of the suicide note. I’m not sure what was stopping me.
I had wanted to send in a secret since I discovered PostSecret. All the secrets made me realize that other people were in just as much pain as I was. When I started to feel better, I realized I needed to get rid of the note. I thought that ripping it up and sending it to PostSecret was the best way to do it.
I am now almost 23 and studying to be a social worker. Right now, I want to do mental health advocacy. I want people to be able to access treatment and realize they’re not alone.
But I’ve also been struggling. This year, my depression came back with a vengeance, along with an eating disorder. I lied in my bed and begged God to take away my pain.
I was procrastinating the next morning getting ready for class, and I realized I hadn’t checked PostSecret. I scrolled through the Sunday secrets, past the pictures of the Smithsonian exhibit (which I fully intend to visit), then I saw mine.
I immediately recognized it. I couldn’t believe it. I thought that since it wasn’t posted 8 years ago, it would never be posted. I was so glad that I was an inspirational suicide story. It was like getting a note from my ninth grade self reassuring me that it was going to be okay.
I immediately recognized it. I couldn’t believe it. I thought that since it wasn’t posted 8 years ago, it would never be posted. I was so glad that I was an inspirational suicide story. It was like getting a note from my ninth grade self reassuring me that it was going to be okay.
Ironically, I’ve been showing the post to everyone. My mom told me she was so glad she never had to read it. One of my housemates hugged me and said she was getting goosebumps. My pastor said he couldn’t imagine a world without me and was also glad I had introduced him to PostSecret.
My therapist was amazed that you had kept it for that long and that it must have really impacted you. She pointed out that it was clearly written by a child (with the handwriting and the purple gel pen), and that if I could impact a stranger with my story at the age of 14, imagine how I could use my story now.
My therapist was amazed that you had kept it for that long and that it must have really impacted you. She pointed out that it was clearly written by a child (with the handwriting and the purple gel pen), and that if I could impact a stranger with my story at the age of 14, imagine how I could use my story now.
Thank you so much for PostSecret. For the approximately nine years I have followed it, it has amused me, changed my perception of others, and made me realize I’m not alone. I’m am so glad that PostSecret was a way for me to reach and inspire others, even 8 years later.
Sincerely,
Aspiring social worker and life-changer
Aspiring social worker and life-changer
—–Email—–
Dear Frank,
This past Friday night I found myself in a black hole of depression and I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the night. Not knowing where to turn and feeling like I couldn’t stop. I remembered seeing the Hopeline phone number on PostSecret.
I talked to someone there for 2 and a half hours and I truly feel that they saved my life.
Thank you for the website, thank Hopeline for being there, and thank the people that send in their postcards so that others know they are not alone with their secrets.
-Casie
—–Email—–
Dear Frank,
I wanted to say thank you for posting the email from Casie. I was also hoping you could pass along a message to her, as well. I want to thank her for having the courage to reach out for help and then share it with you and all of your readers, using her real name and even her picture. It’s definitely inspirational.
—–Email—–
Frank,
Every time I see the new secrets on Sunday, I scroll down to see Casie. For me (a mental health counselor) she balances out the bleak postcards and reminds me that people CAN come back from the brink of suicide. She is truly an angel; I can’t imagine how many people’s lives her story has saved over this past year. :D
—–Email—–
Dear Frank,
My ex was an abusive, cheating, dirtbag who almost didn’t take me to the ER after I swallowed a bunch of pills. Luckily he was talked into it, and after three days in a coma, I woke up, but the ICU staff was still incredibly concerned about my lack of skin tone. I was too pale, and they weren’t going to let me leave for psych until I looked better. It took almost a day to convince them I wasn’t going to get any more color in me…I’m ginger.
To me this is the most eye-rollingly hilarious example of the hardships of life as a redhead. Hardships I’m happy to still have now.
Sept. 27:
A picture of a smiley face: "I'm glad my suicide attempt failed.
I never thought I feel this way again."
A little girl in a ballet tutu: "I am so much BIGGER than the life I am leading."
Oct. 3:
—–email—–
At your PostSecret Live! Event I stood up and told my secret of 12 years of physical, mental, and verbal abuse. What I didn’t say is that my husband was supposed to be at the show with me that night. I left him just before to protect my daughter. My best friend came with me that night and didn’t know my secret before I spoke it out loud.
The PostSecret book you signed for me was the only gift my husband gave me in our 12 years of marriage, as an apology for one of the more severe abusive episodes. It and my Sunday morning visits to postsecret have gotten me through more than you know. Saying it out loud has freed me from so much pain and guilt. I just wanted to say thank you.
—–email—–
I just came home from the PostSecret Live! Event in Galesburg.
It was my first PostSecret event, and it was amazing. Over the past month, I have had many serious thoughts about hurting myself. I have become so numb to the way my life has become, thinking about my death is where my mind wanders. Each and every time the thoughts become deeper and more real. It scares me that I can have these thoughts…I know I have so much to live for. But sometimes, I just don’t want to be here to deal with my own pain.
Tonight, you explained how people keep the Suicide Hotline phone number in their phones. You also explained how people have it listed under the names like Dennis or Kristen.
Tonight, I put that number in my phone just in case my thoughts ever become too real for me to handle. And I listed it under “Frank”.
Thanks for coming to Galesburg.
Spoiler alert: The character PJ is about to jump and Rome talks him down by saying how he is family to him.
I really like this family and friends drama.
Nov. 25, 2019: I get into these low moods.
Weather: Is it because it's cold outside? It will be getting below 0 later this week.
Menstruation: That does kind of affect me.
TV shows: I don't watch any bad TV shows like Dr. Phil and Maury that get me angry, depressed or in a bad mood.
Working: I have been working at my 2 restaurant jobs. I am keeping busy. It's only part-time.
Holiday season: In my family we don't exchange gifts so we save a lot of time, effort, and money.
I need to go out and try more new things. I need to meet more new people.
My week:
Nov. 22, 2019 Enjoy Lights Festival 2019: Today I found this article by Jason Herring in the Edmonton Journal:
Nov. 22, 2019 Enjoy Lights Festival 2019: Today I found this article by Jason Herring in the Edmonton Journal:
ELF also hosts what they call ‘The Thursday Initiative,’ which lets kids from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Cross-Cancer Institute come experience the lights.
Winnington says these days can provide children with sensory differences or compromised immune systems a way to participate in the holiday event. There will be a controlled number of attendees during this time, who will get to attend for free.
“They can come in and experience the light festival without all of the crowds so they don’t have to feel afraid of getting sick by being out in public,” she said. “We wanted to make sure that we’re welcoming everybody we can.”
The festival runs from Thursdays to Mondays from 4–10 p.m. until Jan. 5.
Sun. Nov. 24, 2019 Koo Hara dead:
SEOUL (Reuters) - A former member of South Korea's top K-pop girl group was found dead on Sunday, the country's Yonhap news agency reported citing police.
The body of Koo Hara, 28, was discovered at her home in southern Seoul, Yonhap said.
Police were not immediately available for comment.
Koo, better known as Hara in other parts of Asia, had spoken out against cyber bullying. In June, a month after she was found unconscious at her home and hospitalized, she said it was difficult to overcome depression and pleaded for positive comment on social media.
She debuted with the five-member Kara in 2008. It was one of the early girl groups that helped fan the global K-pop wave, building large fan bases in Japan, China and other countries.
After a deal with a South Korean management agency was terminated, Koo launched a career as a solo artist in Japan and held a concert there this month.
Another K-pop star, Sulli, a former member of girl group f(x), who was a close friend of Koo's and had also spoken out against cyber bullying, also died in October.
MuchMusic doesn't play music videos anymore: Does anyone notice that? I remember they used to play an hr of music videos a day in 2017. It happened so gradually, I hardly even noticed. MuchMoreMusic came out in 1998 and ended in 2016.
The Simpsons: Does anyone remember the episode "Lisa's Wedding" where Lisa was to get married.
Cut to Homer and Marge watching TV in bed.
Marge: Too bad FOX turned into a hardcore sex channel. It happened so gradually, I hardly even noticed.
Gradual change: It's easier to change by making small changes because you can sustain it more.
Intentional gradual change: In Nov. 2015 I decided to donate all 200 magazines that my sister gave me in 2012. I read them like once a month. In Jan. 2016, I donated it all to Value Village. The rest of the year, I was going through more of my things like handouts from my Professional Writing program in college. I made scrap paper out of it.
Unintentional gradual change: I have become very career- oriented. It was because in 2010, the Year of Unemployment when I got laid off from the Soup place I was all about looking for a job and careers. I started becoming more like that with careers and continued with trying to get my TV script produced.
Then I gradually stopped my TV production goal.
Relying too much on one friend: I didn't notice this, but I was relying too much on her by calling her like once a month. I wasn't making any new friends. When I accidentally offended her and she pushed me away, I then got out there to Meetups and made new friends.
TV production: I was trying to get my TV script The Vertex Fighter produced from 2008-2012.
My blogs: My writing on these blogs is to showcase my writing talent and interests, and my writer's imagination.
Intentional gradual change: In Nov. 2015 I decided to donate all 200 magazines that my sister gave me in 2012. I read them like once a month. In Jan. 2016, I donated it all to Value Village. The rest of the year, I was going through more of my things like handouts from my Professional Writing program in college. I made scrap paper out of it.
Unintentional gradual change: I have become very career- oriented. It was because in 2010, the Year of Unemployment when I got laid off from the Soup place I was all about looking for a job and careers. I started becoming more like that with careers and continued with trying to get my TV script produced.
Then I gradually stopped my TV production goal.
Relying too much on one friend: I didn't notice this, but I was relying too much on her by calling her like once a month. I wasn't making any new friends. When I accidentally offended her and she pushed me away, I then got out there to Meetups and made new friends.
Nov. 26, 2019 Turning your Talent into Income: I'm in the Self Development book Meetup group.
This is from Eben Pagan. I printed all the PDF forms and read them yesterday.
Today I listened to the "Identify Your Talents".
Ever since I was in school, I was always told and know what you're good at and go into that as a job or career.
I know I'm not good at math so I never applied or studied math in college.
I know I'm good at English, reading and writing. I like it. I majored in Professional Communication in college and graduated with a 2 yr diploma.
TV production: I was trying to get my TV script The Vertex Fighter produced from 2008-2012.
My blogs: My writing on these blogs is to showcase my writing talent and interests, and my writer's imagination.
In Oct. 2019 I was trying to turn my talent into income with my "Essay help" and "Creative Writing help" ad.
I'm going to be writing more about this later. If you don't have time to listen to the audio, then you can read the PDF:
Nov. 28, 2019: I was listening to "Identify Opportunities and Trends." I always read the business section of the newspaper since 2010 and learning about opportunities and trends. I have been reading about how Sears has been closing down stores and not going well since 2010. It wasn't until 2017 when it closed down.
Nov. 27, 2019 My siblings resumes and cover letters: I was organizing my brother P's resumes and cover letters from the desktop into a folder. I was reading it.
Then I went to my old 2004 computer to delete my sister S's old resumes and cover letters (from when she was in university before 2010). I am learning from it.
"35 percent of millennials want Secret Santa to be banned": I found this in the Sun Newspaper. (A customer left it behind):
Jobsite found that 73 percent of employees aged 23-38 have experienced financial strain from the traditional Christmas gift exchange or other obligations at the office. Twenty-three percent of millennials expressed anger at the organizers of such celebrations, and 17 percent felt judged for not spending enough on their gift.
“Clearly this is unfair and creates stigma,” psychologist Ashley Weinberg said in an analysis included in the study.
Given this perceived injustice, 24 percent of millennials said they “feel like the business should shoulder the burden [of paying for gifts] – rather than adding to the pressures of individual employees,” according to the study. Fully 35 percent of the cohort said Secret Santa-like events should be outright banned at work.Nov. 28, 2019 Godfrey Gao died: I didn't know who he was. Then it says he was in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. I saw the movie in 2016, but I don't remember him in it:
Fans and fellow artists are remembering Taiwanese-Canadian model-actor Godfrey Gao as a gentle soul whose charm and strong work ethic earned him a devoted following around the world.
Gao died after suffering an apparent heart attack while filming a sports reality show in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo on Wednesday. His agency, JetStar Entertainment, confirmed his death on its official Facebook page.
The 35-year-old was filming "Chase Me," a Chinese variety series, when he reportedly fell while running. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to his agency.
He rose to international prominence in 2011 when he became the first Asian male model for the luxury brand Louis Vuitton.
In 2013, Gao starred in the big-budget fantasy flick "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," based on the series of young-adult novels.
My opinion: I was surprised that someone can die from a heart attack at age 35.
Jesse Nilsson: Then I remembered when I was a teen, I liked this actor. He had heart failure at 25 yrs old. It was pneumonia related. I saw him on the TV show Adventure Inc. It lasted a season and at the season finale/ series finale, it did say "In Loving Memory of Jesse Nilsson."
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0632235/?ref_=tt_cl_t3
"Fans won't let 'Anne with an E' go without a fight": Today I found this article by Debra Yeo in the Star Metro. It talks about how fans like the show for it's ethnic diversity, LGBTQ, and the message about the importance of family and friends. I never saw the show, but I saw my sister watching it. I know she read the book. Here's another Canadian TV show about people not killing each other.
https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2019/11/27/upset-fans-wont-let-anne-with-an-e-go-without-a-fight.html
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