Say What You Mean

What if there were no social consequences?

By Janet Price, Regional Director of Community Education and Transition CLE Rockville

Not too long ago, CLE Rockville students and staff visited The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, DC. One of the exhibits featured there was PostSecret: The Power of a Postcard. Based on a movement started by Frank Warren in 2005, PostSecret continues as a community mail art project. The idea is, people are invited to write down their secrets—something they would never tell anyone or say aloud—and mail them to PostSecret where they are rotated on display.

That got us to thinking.

What would we say if there were no rules and no social consequences? What would we reveal about ourselves that is important to us, but we are afraid to say aloud because of how others might react? I posed that question to a group of CLE Rockville students, and passed out postcard sized paper. Everyone agreed to anonymously write something about themselves, with the understanding that what they wrote would be published in the CLE newsletter.

Have you ever wondered what our students are really thinking? What beliefs are important to them? What they are not saying? Here’s a sampling, and some of the answers might surprise you!

“A few things I believe in: 1. There is alien life, but we are too arrogant to believe that we are it. 2. A creator would never be male or female. It is something beyond us and incomprehendible.”

“I support the Blue Lives Matter movement.”

“I want to learn MMA because I have a habit of being very sensitive.”

“I have a hard time asking girls out on dates.”

“Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to make the world a better and healthier place for people and their animals.”

“I isolate from the world because the negative energy that surrounds it slowly drains my sanity.”

“I really enjoy listening to EDM and Klezmer music.”

“I am a tomboy and I am a religious person. I want to be a police officer.”

“I’m a Memer.”

These are the things that our students would say out loud if they were fearless. Some may be surprising, especially if we knew who the author was. Some are interesting and even thought provoking. And yet, submitted anonymously not one of these statements is shocking or anything to be ashamed of. Perhaps when weighing whether or not to divulge something about ourselves the best question to ask is, what would I think and how would I react if I saw this posted anonymously?