BAD AT KEEPING SECRETS

I can’t remember the first time someone told me I was bad at keeping secrets. When I meet someone new, I have to tell them that unless they tell me something like, “Please Carissa, don’t share this with anyone,” I will just assume that it is safe to say. There is something about saying everything you feel out loud that is freeing. And also connective. Like if I am feeling this way, chances are other humans are feeling it, too. 

I want to talk about these things with you.

Hi, I’m Carissa Potter, artist & founder of People I’ve Loved and author of the books I Like You, I Love You; It’s Okay To Feel Things Deeply; and How to Heal From Heartbreak.

This is Bad At Keeping Secrets, a newsletter & interview series in which I hope to create closeness, understanding, and acceptance by sifting through the beautiful emotional mess of life.

Through intimate conversations with people who spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be human right now in creative, scientific, and therapeutic disciplines, we wade into the grey areas, letting go of conclusions and judgments (when we can) in hopes of feeling a little more whole. A little more human. And a little more OK with what is. Exploring things that are deeply meaningful, not because they have a capitalist value, but a human one. 

You can read two of my top posts to get a feel: On My Last Night With You & How Emotional Granularity Works

Special thanks to Stephanie Tsou, for brainstorming topics to write about, editing, and making everything happen. To Vera Kachouh for telling me I should start a Substack and for always knowing the right thing to say to make things better. In all areas of life.

Bad at Keeping Secrets is a reader-supported publication. It comes out Mondays, Thursdays, and PODCASTs on Sundays.  If you’d like to support me and the project of this newsletter (aka, to try to make sense of what it means to be human, right here and right now, in this time & space), here are some options. NEW: “founder” subscriptions get an original painting!!

I believe in an ethos of paying creators when we receive from them whenever possible (I know it isn’t always possible). Your support and monthly contribution to my work helps support the creation and growth of a space to work through the beautiful, emotional mess of life. Bonus: paid subscribers will also have access to my monthly “secrets column” – here, I get to talk to you directly, answering and ruminating on secrets you’ve submitted on Instagram. If being a paid subscriber just isn’t your thing, you’ll still get my newsletter and new podcast episodes every week. Writing this substack is one of my favorite things to do and I’m so excited to show up and share with you.

Thanks for being here with me.

Bad at Keeping Secrets is a Substack Featured Publication for 2022!