In November of 2004, a man in Washington D.C. handed out blank postcards to strangers, asking them to decorate them and to include a secret. Soon, those postcards came back to Frank Warren. He displayed them in an art show. The art show ended, but the secrets didn’t.

“I knew that the project would have extraordinary meaning for me, but I have been shocked by how it has resonated with others,” Mr. Warren says in a recent Q and A with the News-Press. “Shortly after I started the project, the idea spread virally and people all over the world started mailing me secrets. I get about 1,000 every week, and today, so far, over 300,000 people have visited www.postsecret.com.”

Along with the award-winning blog, Mr. Warren has written four books and tours the country speaking about PostSecret. He also received an award from the National Mental Health Association “for raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention,” according to HarperCollins.

And at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, Mr. Warren will speak in a free lecture in the Charles Johnson Theatre on the Northwest Missouri State University campus.

“I’ve been a huge fan of PostSecret for the last couple years,” says Wesley Miller, student activities council lecture chairman.

The secrets can be wild, he says, but Mr. Warren’s message is something college students can relate to. And surely that holds true for the rest of us, too.

Q. How do you explain what PostSecret has become today? Is it still art?

A. I look at PostSecret as a collection of secrets that I share with people different ways. There are the four books, the Web site, the lectures I deliver on campuses and the two traveling exhibits. I think there are many ways to view the project. I continue to see it as art. Although art and healing can sometimes be the same.

Q. In a world where anonymity is as easy as getting online, PostSecret seems to have tapped into something. Is it the act of creating a postcard, of dropping it in a mailbox, of letting that secret go but knowing you’ll be on the other end to find it? Why do you think so many thousands of people continue sending in and reading secrets?

A. I think I have somehow been able to develop a special relationship with strangers where they feel like they can trust me with their secrets. I will treat their secret with respect and no one will judge them. I think that allows people to reveal hidden parts of their lives that many of us can recognize. And when someone discloses a secret they have been hiding from themselves, that can be liberating for the person and the community.

Q. Do people ever seek you out personally or whisper secrets to you as you pass by?

A. Yes, when I travel to college campuses students will sometimes share a secret with the audience or later hand me a private message.

Q. Do you ever feel burdened by these secrets? What’s your outlet?

A. My outlet is swimming, hiking and basketball. They help me relax and keep my back strong.

Q. What does it say about our culture and the times we live in that people are such ready participants, through both sharing and reading secrets?

A. Paradoxically, I think the larger our population grows the more loneliness there is in the world.

Q. A lot of Web sites and stories about PostSecret refer to dark and dirty little secrets. Are they mostly dark and dirty?

A. I don’t think so. I hope everyone judges for themselves.

Q. Do you have a favorite, or one that has stayed with you?

A. “It feels good to tear up a suicide note.”

Q. Does your mailman hate you?

A. Kathy and I have a good relationship. She gets a very nice Christmas tip every year and always treats the secrets with great care.

Q. You’ve been doing this for several years. In the process, what have you learned about yourself and those around you?

A. I believe we all have a secret that would break your heart if you just knew what it was and if we could remind ourselves of that I think there would be more understanding, compassion and peace in the world.

Q. When you see people, do you ever find yourself speculating about what their postcards would be?

A. I have seen nearly 200,000 secrets and they haunt me — but not in a bad way. My empathy feels like it grows with each secret I read.

Q. Have you ever gotten one and suspected you recognized the handwriting?

A. Yes, my wife has tried to sneak in postcards onto the Web site. I think I have caught every one. Her last one was about Richard Gere, (I will keep the details secret).

Q. Have you ever sent one in ... to yourself? What do you do with your secrets?

A. There is one of my secrets in every book.

Q. Four books have come out based on the postcards you’ve received. What’s next?

A. My wife worries that secrets will follow us into our retirement and beyond. But my secret is I hope they never stop coming.

Assistant lifestyles editor Kristen Hare can be reached at kristenhare@npgco.com.