22
Oct
Operation Beautiful
by Rosalind Adams
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in 21st Century Bellist, That Girl
I notice immediately how bright and full of energy Caitlin Boyle’s voice is as soon as we start talking. It’s hard to believe her 
success story started with an off day, just a few months ago. “I was at school taking night classes and having a bad day, and I thought, if I’m having a bad day, other women must be having a bad day too.” This led her to scribble a simple note on a Post-it and stick it on the mirror. She snapped a picture of the note, which read “You are beautiful!” and posted it on her blog.
Her readers loved the idea, and began sending in pictures of their own posted notes. Within 48 hours, she had so many e-mails flooding her inbox, she decided to launch a second blog at Operationbeautiful.com. Since the site’s launch in June, Caitlin has received notes from women, and men too, living all over the world. At last count, she’s received over 1000 notes, from countries as far away as Australia, Japan, Nigeria, Canada and even from a soldier in Iraq.
When asked what she thought she had tapped into with her blog, she mentions, “It’s this sneaky phenomenon that when people do things for other people, they feel good themselves.” She also mentions people “get a rush of happiness just form posting a note,” in many ways “they’re writing the note to themselves.”
A feeling of happiness isn’t the only benefit of this growing trend. Caitlin describes one of her favorite e-mails she received from a girl named Zic, who had been getting treatment for an eating disorder. She hadn’t eaten solid food in two years and after doctors forced her to eat a 500-calorie meal, she rushed to the bathroom to vomit. She found a note on the door of the stall that said “You are beautiful, just the way you are” and decided not to throw up. Caitlin remarks, “I’m actually starting to believe in fate after doing this for a few months. It’s like all of these notes are meant for a specific person. People seem to find the notes when they need it most.”
Not only has Caitlin been able to impact women all over the world, she also has been able to transform her own. The blog has been so successful, she signed a book deal and was able to quit her, as she put it “mind-numbing corporate job” to write full time. She remarks, “It’s so crazy, I randomly posted a note and four months later I quit my job and have a book deal.” She explains how much the experience has been a testament to the notion that “you will never see what can happen in your life without giving things a chance.”
Spread the good feelings yourself by posting your own “You are Beautiful!” notes and sending them to Caitlin at seebriderun@gmail.com.