Day 63 - Improve YOUR Mirror (or Somebody Else's)!

Original Image from Operation Beautiful

Hi Everyone!  Sorry for the lag between posts this week.  Between my trip to South Dakota, and another short adventure back to Los Angeles to teach the last class of my seminar... I've felt a bit scattered!  Thankfully, I've managed to gather all my pieces and put myself back together.  So... T.G.I.F., and here's my latest post:

I received a precious package in the mail while I was away: a letter from About-Face (my favorite amazing girl-positive non-profit).  Check out what was written on the bottom corner of the "100% Recycled Paper, 40% Post Consumer Waste" envelope: Mirror Decal Inside!   Score!  Like most folks, I love free gifts.  But... if this one involved mirrors, would I be able to enjoy it?  The anticipation was killing me.  I opened the envelope.

Inside, I found a new About-Face brochure, a letter updating me on current events, a request to donate (I already had), and.... (bated breath).... a beautiful clear sticker with the message, "Beauty FITS every SIZE."  Beautiful!   I know that this decal was intended for a mirror, but I obviously couldn't swing that (yeah, it might be a nice message for M to wake up to, but the letter was addressed to ME!).  Instead, I decided to display the decal on the window next to my desk at home.  

That said, if any of you readers are interested in improving your outlook on life by upgrading your mirrors with a sweet decal... here's the scoop: As far as I know, there are two organizations out there who have dedicated themselves in some way to disrupting poor body image through body-positive mirror decals.  

First (obviously), in summer of 2009, About-Face organized a "Take Action" group of teen girls, who came up with the idea to make these body-positive static-cling mirror decals, and then venture out to San Francisco's Union Square shopping area to place them on dressing room mirrors at multiple clothing stores.  They named it the "Covert Dressing Room Action" and you can read more about it on this page of the About-Face website.  You'll also find directions for how to make your own static-cling decals, or how you can purchase pre-made decals from About-Face. For those of you who just want a quick feel-good about the world fix, here's a youtube video of the project.  

Pretty awesome, huh?!

Okay, the second organization worth mentioning here is Operation Beautiful, found at www.operationbeautiful.com.  Their mission: "Post encouraging notes in public places for other women to find." It looks like a lot of these notes end up on mirrors (as seen in the picture I chose at the start of this post).

For obvious reasons, the Operation Beautiful project has taken off in a big way. The founder, Caitlin Boyle, recently released a books titled Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-it Note at a Time.  For a closer peek at the variety of positive post-it note messages that have sprung up through Operation Beautiful, here's another youtube video (this one is a stunning cover of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" by a cappella artist Peter Collens):

For those of you who - like me - are feeling inspired by these projects, I encourage you to 

start bedazzling the mirrors in your own life ASAP.  On that note, here's a closing request from Operation Beautiful, and me:

"Remember, Sticky Notes, Not Graffiti!"

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