Operation Beautiful, an organization devoted to ending “fat talk” from women’s vocabulary everywhere, may be singlehandedly responsible for the success of Post-it Notes. The woman behind the magic is Caitlin Boyle, the founder of Operation Beautiful. OB got started as a site in June 2009 and so far has received over 7,000 notes from around the world since its start. The idea behind Operation Beautiful is to post random positive messages toward women and their bodies in public places such as bathrooms, mirrors or in fashion magazines. In an email interview Caitlin goes on to say, “I was inspired to start Operation Beautiful after having a really bad day at work; I wanted to do something small and simple for someone else to make me feel better!”
The founder of Operation Beautiful, Caitlin Boyle, was born in Miami, Florida and now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband. She majored in Creative Non-Fiction and Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. She used to work as an urban planner, but now makes a living as a blogger, author, and motivational speaker.
Operation Beautiful even has a book available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Borders. The book is called Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-It Note at a Time. This positive book includes 125 Post-It notes and stories and includes tips and tricks to lead a healthier and better life. Another book is in the works, available in summer 2012, directed towards teenagers and tweens.
Witnessing this operation take place and the impact it has is really something special. Seeing the women pour out of the bathroom with smiles, instills confidence that maybe Caitlin is going to make a difference in the way women see themselves after all. The idea of placing the notes in changing rooms, bathrooms and at the gym is a way of stopping the talk before it starts. By leaving these happy-grams, the idea is to help women everywhere realize that beauty is not measured by the number on the scale, but the way you feel.
As for the self-esteem issue, Caitlin has an answer for that too. “There is a lot of negative messaging in our society, and the issues start young – did you know the average girl goes on her first diet when she’s 8 years old? The biggest mistake we make is beating ourselves up for not looking like models or celebrities. It’s time we stop emulating or striving for a type of perfection that doesn’t even exist in the real world. It’s OK to look like a human!”
This kind of positive self-talk is something to be done on a regular basis. Whether it’s a note posted on the door frame or on the mirror in the bathroom, a simple encouraging message can pave the way for a better self-image. Every woman on the planet deserves to look in the mirror and see someone beautiful, because that’s what every woman is. Beautiful.