Heartfulness Indy T-Shirts

For a month solid (if not more) I’ve been working with one of the leading prefects in my region (and zone!) on putting ideas together for a t-shirt local abhyasis and prefects can wear when out-n-about and at events. As in many other contexts, one’s conduct and whatnot acts as a kind of unintentional business card – relating back to one’s family, socio-economic status, employer, religion, etc… Now the Heartfulness community in the Indy region has t-shirts to act as a simple but intentional display.

In putting this together we pulled inspiration from other zones as well as the global Heartfulness community. We initially went in the direction of an online store, CustomInk, which we know other communities have used. CustomInk is a fantastic site and quite user-friendly. I’d recommend that route to anyone.

However, because of a million reasons mostly relating to the 2016 North American Heartfulness conferences that have been underway in recent weeks, as well as local events like Monumental Yoga which the Indy region will be at, this was placed on a back burner and was only discussed off-n-on for a number of weeks and so we found ourselves with a very narrow window of time not only to complete the design, but get the design to a vendor, get the shirts made and paid for, AND get them back. The real hero in all this is a local business here in Indianapolis called Bright Ideas in Broad Ripple. (For anyone unaware, Broad Ripple is a unique little bubble in the Indy area and offers a lot of neat things to do and see.) If you look below to the first image attached, then you’ll see their web address which I encourage you to check out. I’ve been on their site and it’s very user-friendly too and does well at showing all that they offer. But because of the time crunch we were in, it was agreed that I should just stop by the store in person and try to consult with someone STAT.

So I did.

It was a Friday. Last Friday. And as my luck would have it, they were all but closed. In fact, when I arrived the door was locked. So I pushed the button for the doorbell and soon was greeted at the door by the owner herself, “Big Bad Boss Bev.” In my opinion, Bev doesn’t come off as big or bad, but she certainly feels like a natural boss – but exactly the kind you’d want to work for! She opened the door, explained that all the staff had left early that day, but said she’d consult with me, anyway.

She escorted me around her showroom and explained differences in fabrics and fits and pricing, etc… A very thorough consult. She gathered some basic information about who I am, who I was representing, the event we were wanting the shirts for, and some stats about the shirts that would help her beginning planning and pricing. I was with her for less than an hour and I feel the time spent was so valuable.

The weekend came and went as weekends do – far too quickly. I emailed Bev Monday morning with as much of the information she’d requested as I could and roped in a couple others locally and from Ohio. Everything was happening so quickly – our back and forth emailing was quite the whirlwind. By the end of the day everything had well been finalized and within a couple days I had everything paid for. We really thought we’d be lucky to have our shirts in-hand by the day before our event and understood there to be a risk that it simply wouldn’t be possible. However, exactly one week after consulting with Bev, she contacted me to let me know that our product was received and ready to be picked up.

I went that afternoon to get the product. When I entered the business establishment, Bev was on the phone with someone so one of her employees assisted. The woman who helped was very friendly and knew right where my order was being held. They had one of the shirts on a hanger and this made it easy for her to show me the final product. In that short time, Bev had gotten off the phone and found me. She greeted me personally and explained how when she was given the news that my order was ready, she insisted it be couriered over right away. We agreed that the result was a great shirt and we were both very pleased. With all of her help and care I couldn’t help but give her a big hug in thanks and she didn’t hesitate to hug me right back. So many Hoosiers really give good hugs and Bev is one of them!

Tomorrow morning I’ll be bringing the shirts to morning meditation to begin distributing them to those who ordered. I think these will really make a difference for our volunteers at the Monumental Yoga event this coming Tuesday. What a fantastic experience in the local journey to bring and grow Heartfulness in the Indianapolis area. Jaya!

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

Big Bad Boss Bev can be seen here on the right, an image taken from Bright Ideas’ Facebook page, which I encourage you to “like” – She was at the Pink Pajama Party, an event that is dear to my heart.