I didn’t want anyone else to feel alone
so I created Random Note Project
Hi, I’m Gabrielle.
When I was a small child, a trusted adult wrote an unkind note meant for me to find. It broke my heart. Like all children, I wanted to be loved. I wanted to feel safe. I wanted to know that I belonged in this world. Instead, I felt ashamed. I felt unwanted. I felt like an outsider.
For a long time, I chose to stay small. I stopped playing sports, stopped attending dances, and made myself nearly invisible. Until I realized I had a choice.
In the year 2001, when I was 14, I was a lonely, hurting teenager trying to find where I fit in the world. I felt so much pressure to find the right path for the rest of my life. I looked everywhere for clues and signs to unlock my grand purpose. As I looked around, I found a lot of unhappy, confused, and questioning people just like me. We were all pretending to be okay, but very few of us actually felt that way.
I felt compelled to help. I wanted to say “same here” and “I'm scared too,” and “we don't have to do this alone.” I wanted to take away the pressure to be perfect. Even more, I wanted to expose the truth that we’re all normal and we don't have to hide our struggles. No one has to figure it out by age 18 or 30 or 62, and no one has to do it alone. Funny, we so often give the advice we need to hear the most.
Realistically, I couldn't approach strangers in the mall and expect to reach their hearts on a deep level. But, if they were looking for a sign as intently as I was, I could give them that. And so, Random Note Project was born.
Random Note Project exists under the firm belief that each of us has a message to share that can positively change the course of someone else’s life.
Tearing scraps of paper and scrawling heartfelt, compassionate messages on them, I left notes wherever my gut told me a needing person would find them. I slipped notes into library books, taped them to park benches, and affixed them to telephone poles. I trusted that my tiny love letters would find their way to the people who needed them the most.
Soon, stories poured into my inbox from people who found the perfect words at the perfect time. I heard from people who faced loss, addiction, new relationships, fear, and joy. Every story humbled me. On a basic level, all of us long to connect with others who might understand. Random Note Project was creating and affirming those connections.
Then, new people joined the project and left notes in their communities. In time, notes were found in countries around the globe—places I had never been and in languages I didn’t speak. Our story was told in major media publications. Empathy, kindness, connection—it’s contagious. And we need it.
I started Random Note Project looking for where I fit in the world around me. What I found is that we all fit together. When we’re at our best, we have the power to give the right words at the right time to someone who needs them. I want to give this gift to as many people as possible. Random Note Project is here for anyone who needs to hear a compassionate message. It's also open for anyone to join and leave notes of their own. Together, we will make the world a kinder, more connected place.
Ready to make a difference?
Gabrielle Bovard, founder of Random Note Project, is a writer, author, and keynote speaker. She makes her home in a wooded enclave in Western Pennsylvania. She loves crayons, markers, and office supplies more than can be expressed in words. An avid traveler, Gabrielle makes the world a smaller place by sharing kindness and notes everywhere she goes. Learn more about Gabrielle.