This Flight Attendant Leaves Empowering Notes for Passengers to Stumble Upon
"It doesn't take much to make someone smile," one of her notes reads.
— -- Taylor Tippett, an American Airlines flight attendant, has been leaving empowering messages on little slips of paper for passengers to discover in their seats for over a year now.
The simple messages with words like "Your joy is always worth it" and "May your weeds be wildflowers" are part of an ongoing photo series Tippett calls "Words From the Window Seat" on her blog, A Travelin Lady. The 22-year-old flight attendant also shares the photos using the hashtag #wordsfromthewindowseat on her personal Instagram, where she has over 122,000 followers.
The simple messages are inspired by the conversations she has with people she meets in her travels and any of life's obstacles she may be facing, Tippett said
"I just want people to know that no matter what they're going through, they are loved and their story and voice matters," she told ABC News today. "At the end of the day, these may be just silly notes on the window, but if they can find hope to fight or smile and realize they're not alone, it's all worth it."
Though Tippett takes photos of the notes on airplane windows, she said, he usually takes them down right after and sticks them inside safety cards in seat pockets for passengers to stumble upon.
"Since passengers are supposed to read the safety card, it's nicer because they'll realize it was intentionally left there just for them," she said. "I also don't want them to have any idea I left the notes, and if I left them on the window, they could suspect someone who was in the plane before they were -- such as a flight attendant -- left them there."
Just like Tippett's notes, the story of how she started them is also heartening.
"I was on the back of a plane early in the morning before a flight last year just thinking and beating myself up about a lot of things," she said. "I realized I was being so harsh and mean to myself, and so I started journaling to work through my thoughts. I then noticed a small composition pad my instructor had given me, and I realized I wanted to do take this moment and do something with it -- to encourage others with what I was going through."
The first note Tippett wrote that morning? "Be kind to yourself."
She hopes that her notes and blog help inspire others to travel, even if it means "walking a new route" or "visiting a new coffee shop in your town."
"When I've experienced heartache and hardships, I find it so helpful to back a backpack and go somewhere new," Tippett said. "You open your eyes to so much new joy and opportunities that would be so easy to miss staying at home and getting stuck in your everyday routine.
"Life can be so dark and heavy, but trying new things and going new places puts so much into perspective and encourages you to live your life full and free."