Here is my paper for the newspaper, what do ya'll think?
You’re feeling down. You wake up to find out that your boyfriend didn’t call you back, - again. You also find that a certain thing has started today, making you feel bloated and not so pretty. Your acne is breaking out again. Still, you suck it up and head out to your volunteer job at your local library.
When you go to the bathroom, you splash some water on your face, sigh heavily, and look into the mirror. A post it on the mirror catches your eye, and you lean forward to read it.
Objects in this mirror are much more beautiful then they may appear.
A smile breaks out across your face, and you fumble with your camera to take a picture. Suddenly you day has gotten a lot brighter.
The post it note you found was not just a random thing someone did. It was part of a movement. A movement called Operation Beautiful.
Operation Beautiful was started in June, 2009 by a health savvy woman named Caitlin. Caitlin is the blogger behind Healthy Tipping Point, her own personal blog website about getting healthy. She shares things from her life, including daily updates, and information about her and her family.
She started Operation Beautiful with a mission that sounds simple, but will most certainly be a difficult battle. To end fat talk.
Caitlin says, ‘I began Operation Beautiful because I am dedicated to ending “Fat Talk” in woman and encouraging a positive body image. I truly believe that your beauty comes from the inside, and your unique qualities that make you YOU should be valued and celebrated.’
The details of the mission are quite simple, all you need is a pen, paper, tape, and post its. With these, you can begin to leave anonymous notes around in school, stores, public bathrooms, or wherever inspiration hits you!
Despite having been started only months ago, Operation Beautiful has become widespread, with many people leaving notes wherever they can.
Operation Beautiful has been in the press many times, including being on the Chicago NBC morning news, and the Orlando Fox News. They are also in many magazines, including Chatelaine, CLEO Magazine, the New York Daily News, and the Orlando Sentinel.
The band Superchick made a song about Operation Beautiful, which Caitlin then used to make a video with many of the pictures sent to her by her fellow note writers. Already Operation Beautiful has forums about it on many other sites, including Gaia Online, Jezebel, and The Examiner.
However, as some may believe, Operation Beautiful does not want to encourage unhealthy living through the notes everyone posts. Operation Beautiful hopes that when someone sees a note they will be more confident in themselves and their ability to look good, and be happy with the encouragement the note holds. We hope that this will cause them to look up the website, join in, and perhaps even begin to realize that they should ‘take care of their body’ so that their body ‘takes care of them.’
I myself found Operation Beautiful sometime in November, and fell in love with the idea. I have begun posting notes all around, in the library, stores, bathrooms, and anywhere else that I find fitting. If there was ever a movement to join, I believe it would be this one.
Fat talk will not end for a while. We all know this. However, if we can change the world and the women who inhabit it, one post it or note at a time, then why shouldn’t we? So, next time you go to the store, or the library, or just out, bring post its, a pen, and a camera. You’ll be brightening the lives of many women.
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