Sophomores Paz Greenberg and Tal Hadar help spread the word about Operation Beautiful
We can change how we see ourselves, one Post-it Note at a time—at least according to Operation Beautiful's motto. To participate in Operation Beautiful, it's as simple as writing down an encouraging phrase on a post-it and sticking it in a public place. Common places for Post-it Notes to be found are on mirrors of bathrooms or the gym locker room. Other places include grocery stores, retails or inside books.
Sophomores Paz Greenberg and Tal Hadar have both joined the mission, posting motivational notes up on campus bathroom mirrors and other various places since their youth group informed them about the project.
"We like to [help the] community, so we decided that this is something we want to do," Greenberg said. "It was like a group effort."
Operation Beautiful is determined to change the way people negatively think about themselves. They want people to know no matter how they look, either tall, short, fat, skinny, they're beautiful the way they are. Their mission is to end the "fat talk" and bring up self-esteem around the world. And they realize the power of just one anonymous positive note.
But this idea has spread beyond MVHS. Greenberg and Hadar's friends from the youth group who go to Homestead High School and Fremont High School also participate in Operation Beautiful. One time, their friend from HHS overheard people talking about the post-its and how it made their day brighter. That is what encourages all of them to continue making the Post-it Notes.
During school, they put up the Post-it's when they go to the bathroom and write sayings like "Smile, it looks good on you," "You're gorgeous, you don't need to fix anything" or "Don't put on any more make-up, I like you the way you are."
Though Greenberg hasn't heard people talking about the Post-it Notes, she knows that people do see them.
"I was in the bathroom and I posted one. [While] I was washing my hands some girl came in and started fixing her hair," Greenberg said. "She saw it and smiled so I was like 'Yes, score'. When you know you make someone else's day better, it makes you feel good about yourself."
Usually after writing the Post-it note, people take a picture of it with themselves in front of the mirror and send it to www.operationbeautiful.com where a video will be made out of it. On the website, people can also find a mix of ideas on more creative and inspirational sayings if they run out. After going on the website, it might seem like that Operation Beautiful is only a girl thing. But there may be a reason for that.
"Girls are really catty to each other and that's one of the things that causes eating disorders and suicides," Hadar said. "I think [Operation Beautiful] also stops that in a way and it makes girls realize that we shouldn't be so mean to each other."
Despite trying to boost girls' self esteems, sometimes Hadar and Greenberg will feel like they are leaving guys out and want to give them some love too. In turn, they put post-it notes on the boy's bathroom doors saying phrases like "You look handsome today." And there doesn't seem to be a problem with that, as long as people get a sense of warmth after reading the notes.
To spread the word about Operation Beautiful, Greenberg and Hadar have chosen to write the website on the bottom of the post-it. It gives the reader a chance to continue to make someone else's day better through another anonymous note.
There's nothing to lose because it's a win-win situation. The reader gets a boost up from their possible bad day and so do the writers. Unsurprisingly, Hadar and Greenberg both agree.
"It's not like someone's going to be like 'I don't like your handwriting, don't do this anymore'," Greenberg said. "No matter what, it will affect someone in a positive way."
