Open Secrets Magazine | Substack

The Magic of Making

How I spin things around

5 hrs ago • Alicia Morandi

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Apr 30 • Open Secrets Magazine

Could getting rid of my estranged family’s gifts heal me?

Apr 27 • Jenny Bartoy

Object-ives #32: My Own Steel

My mother wanted a girl who was safe, not one who could wield an Irish hand-and-a-half sword

Apr 24 • Catherine Cornell

How a DNA test, not mine, changed my life

Apr 23 • Tracey Edelist, PhD

Relationships

Changing My Hair Color Used to Be an Act of Rebellion. Now I Know It Means So Much More

When I decided to dye my blonde locks brown in the midst of a painful divorce, I realized the act of changing my hair was less about defiance and more…

Apr 20 • Heather Sweeney

Why I Love the Scandalous Women Who Changed My Life

I hid the power of these relationships from others (and myself) for decades

Apr 13 • Michele Peters

What I Talk About When I Talk About My Neurodivergent Husband

How his ADHD permanently impacted our marriage

Mar 31 • Lori Tucker-Sullivan

March 2026 Open Secrets Book Club Pick: ‘sorry i keep crying during sex’ by Jesse James Rose

Join us March 24 at 7 p.m. ET for a live interview with author, actor, and content creator Jesse James Rose

Mar 16 • Open Secrets Magazine

I Traveled the World Looking for Love. I’m Still Looking.

Since writing about being single at 33, the search hasn’t changed—even as the scenery has.

Feb 14 • Sonya Matejko

Object-ives #22: My Heavy Metal Companion

An intimate prized possession that will never be an heirloom

Feb 13 • Open Secrets Magazine

Substack

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel's Substack

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Parenting and Family

Could getting rid of my estranged family’s gifts heal me?

Apr 27 • Jenny Bartoy

Object-ives #32: My Own Steel

My mother wanted a girl who was safe, not one who could wield an Irish hand-and-a-half sword

Apr 24 • Catherine Cornell

Object-ives #31: Heartwood: How My Humble Cutting Board Came to Speak Louder Than Words

My brother’s complicated legacy lives on in this gift he made me

Apr 17 • Kris Kleindienst

Object-ives #27: The Sneakers That Traipse on Without My Grandma

How an old pair of shoes became impossible to part with

Mar 20 • Courtney Kocak

Unraveling the Puzzle of the Two Paintings My Mother Gifted Me Upon Her Death

The legacy of her message may not be the one she intended

Mar 17 • Eleanor Anstruther

Object-ives #24: The Brown Wall-to-Wall Carpet of My Childhood Home

Many secrets were hidden in its mottled earth

Feb 27 • Sumitra Mattai

After Infertility, I Found a Version of Motherhood I Could Claim As My Own

My identity took shape around the struggle for a child. Who was I now that I actually had one?

Feb 12 • Amy Gallo Ryan

I Zoomed My Sister’s Funeral

How I handled my grief from a distance

Jan 26 • Tawnya Gibson

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Identity

How a DNA test, not mine, changed my life

Apr 23 • Tracey Edelist, PhD

I Couldn’t Sing, But I Joined a Chorus Anyway

From lip-synching to not faking it

Apr 21 • Gabe Montesanti

Changing My Hair Color Used to Be an Act of Rebellion. Now I Know It Means So Much More

When I decided to dye my blonde locks brown in the midst of a painful divorce, I realized the act of changing my hair was less about defiance and more…

Apr 20 • Heather Sweeney

My Tattoos Are More Than Art

They’re a roadmap of my life

Apr 15 • Athena Dixon

The Best of Both Worlds. Or Is It?

How “Hannah Montana” made me realize I was masking my anxiety

Apr 6 • Kate Warrington

Object-ives #29: What Price Nostalgia? $495 Plus Shipping

The heartbreak of a discarded concert T-shirt

Apr 3 • Melissa Meinzer

Basketball Taught Me I Can Be a New Person Any Time I Want

I quit playing when I was 10. Now I watch it weekly

Mar 21 • alexis

How to Reroute Yourself

Athena Dixon on singing Oasis songs at karaoke and steering her own course

Mar 18 • Athena Dixon

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Mental Health

Changing My Hair Color Used to Be an Act of Rebellion. Now I Know It Means So Much More

When I decided to dye my blonde locks brown in the midst of a painful divorce, I realized the act of changing my hair was less about defiance and more…

Apr 20 • Heather Sweeney

Object-ives #30: J’Adore My Anorak of Armor

In 1990, I blew some grant money on a J.Crew anorak; 36 years later it’s still protecting me from all the elements

Apr 10 • A Long Story

What I Talk About When I Talk About My Neurodivergent Husband

How his ADHD permanently impacted our marriage

Mar 31 • Lori Tucker-Sullivan

The Year I Spoke with Chris Evans

How the beginning stages of schizoaffective disorder impacted my life

Mar 30 • Melanie Cole

Molly Was My Gateway Drug to Meditation

How taking the illicit 1990s psychedelic pill paved the way for me to get Zen

Mar 3 • Blair Glaser

A Love Letter to Myself After Eating Disorder Treatment

What I learned about recovery from getting treatment for anorexia and bulimia in my fifties

Feb 24 • Amie Newman

As an anorexic adult I learned to eat again like a baby

Feb 23 • Karen Lindell

1:10:47

Exclusive Interview on Life in a Cult, How to Escape a Cult, and Memoir Writing with 'The True Happiness Company' Author Veena Dinavahi

Watch our interview with Veena Dinavahi about mental health, the self-help cult she didn't realize she joined, leaving the cult, Mormonism, and her…

Jan 30 • Open Secrets Magazine, Veena, and Rachel Kramer Bussel

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Work

Why I Love the Scandalous Women Who Changed My Life

I hid the power of these relationships from others (and myself) for decades

Apr 13 • Michele Peters

Please Hurry Up and Slow Down

An impatient person comes to terms with inefficiency

Mar 26 • Amy L Bernstein

Why I’ll Never Leave a Bag Unattended Again

Some things will always remain unknown

Mar 9 • Jocelyn Jane Cox

The Economics of Being a Working Actor (Barely)

Just because I’ve starred on TV and on stage doesn’t mean I have it made financially

Mar 2 • Rachel Crowl

How I Made Peace with the Secret Failure Behind My Successful Career

Helping my daughter with her pre-calculus homework took me back to failing calculus in college

Jan 27 • L.S. Stratton

I Throw Pottery. Would I Throw My Career, Too?

After the chaos of the last government shutdown—and a hard year of loss and change—federal workers like me face a tough decision.

Jan 24 • Madison Chapman

Just Like Christmas

How my impossible manager’s comeuppance was the best workplace gift I could have received

Dec 22, 2025 • Karen G Berry

Why Playing Pickleball Is My New Professional Litmus Test

Networking with a paddle, not a pastry

Dec 6, 2025 • ANGELA MARIE HUTCHINSON

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