Six Word Memoir

Now most of us would not think about creating a short story in as little as six words, but leave it to Ernest Hemingway to do just that: "Baby shoes.  For sale.  Never used."  Long story short (no pun intended, but I will take it), Hemingway's colleagues said that he would not be able to write a short story in six words and boy did he prove them wrong; some argue today that it is his best work.

Typically at PostSecret events, audiences are given an index card and asked to write down six words which expresses one of their deepest secrets; let me tell you, it is hard to get it to fit into six words.  Tonight's was a bit more focused and we were asked to share something related to bullying.  Then those brave enough are invited to get up and share what they had put on the card.  The rest are placed into a bag and added to the over 500,000 secrets which Frank and his wife guard in their Germantown, MD home.

There were a lot of amazing secrets shared and it ran the gammot from high school students to adults in their mid-40s.  While some were funny you could also see a common theme of hurt and distrust for those a person is supposed to trust the most, especially for a child.  Two of the best ones of the evening were: 1) Hearing aids.  I couldn't hear them. 2) Forgive me Father.  You have sinned.

Want to check out some of the six word memoirs from the event, check out #avam6word

Feeling brave and want to take the plunge/send in your deepest secret?  

Here is the address:  PostSecret 13345 Copper Ridge Road Germantown, MD 20874

You never know ... maybe one Sunday you will see your secret in your Google Reader.