Secrets

No, I'm not telling you any.

I've always been good at keeping secrets...from when I understood what a secret was, I mean.

Agatha Christie said in one of her books (I think it was Hercule Poirot who said it) that a murderer is put in a very lonely position, because he has done something that he is unable to speak to anyone about.

Sometimes a secret is that way. When you have a secret, you are placed in a position where you are unable to share something. Sometimes it is because you do not want to share it, but sometimes you cannot share it because, well, the secret is not yours to share. So the burden is yours alone to bear.

Some people would say, why don't you tell me your secret? Don't you trust me?

But secrets are secrets for a reason... Sometimes you do not tell someone a secret not because you think they will tell other people about it, but simply because you do not want them to know about it.

Imagine the murderer...he might not want his friends to know that he has murdered someone, even if he might be sure that they would never turn him in to the police.

Once someone knows your secret, and you know that they know...instead of being in a lonely position, it might be an uncomfortable position.

Oh, if only there was a way to erase memories...then we could share our innermost secrets with trusted friends, share opinions, and wipe the slate blank, leaving your secret intact with you...and in addition, you would have shared it with your friends.

Unfortunately the world doesn't work that way... (or maybe, fortunately...because what would be a secret then?)