"In my previous life I was terrified of public speaking," says the Washington, D.C.-based creator and curator of PostSecret, a 2004 community art project that spawned an award-winning weblog and four best-selling books and earned him a reputation as the "most trusted stranger in America."

"When I go up there tonight, the last thing I'm going to think is, '[Frank Warren], have the courage to be vulnerable.'"

While some confessors, he says, use PostSecret to express things that, while humorous, would be politically incorrect, offensive or obscene in polite company -- the most commonly told secret is I pee in the sink" -- many are poignant, even heart-breaking. (Written on a foil "It's a Boy" balloon: "When we decided to keep you, your life wasn't the only one saved.")