August 2005

Secret Keepers in the News

by John Prin
Addiction Counselor
As you know, PEOPLE magazine is loaded with secrets. That's right, in the Aug 8 issue*, there's the cover-story revelation of Jude Law's cheating on his fiancée Sienna (with his children's nanny, JUDE'S SECRET LIFE), Nicole Kidman's "Secret Friends," Barry Bond's secret use of steroids, and the secret identity of a blogger who got fired from her job as an associate beauty editor at Ladies Home Journal.

Let's face it, secrets sell. Practically every headline on the supermarket check-out shelves screams the enticing "secrets" of celebrities -- "New surprises: Bad behavior, other women, PLUS.."*. It's all part of the trend in our gossip-laden culture to reveal juicy, scintillating negative behaviors by the idols many idolize.

Compared with real life secret-keeping, there is the similarity of breaking moral, ethical, and relational boundaries, but there the similarities end.

For more about the characteristics of secrets, see the Continuum of Secrets in Stolen Hours, page 244.

Email John Prin your thoughts.

You can also reach me at 952-941-1870 or read my books, Stolen Hours: Breaking Free From Secret Addictions. and the sequel, Secret Keeping: Overcoming Hidden Habits and Addictions.

* PEOPLE, Aug 8, 2005