I was having dinner with a couple friends the other night. One friend has been doing consulting with a company that sells T-shirts. Over the years they’ve gotten a pretty good idea of what the market is interested in and what sells well. They create around 1500 designs each year and about 100 of the designs do approximately 50% of the revenue.
Most of this I could care less about but what did interest me was the cheeky phrases that they’d creatively put on the fronts of the shirts and how people were able to identify with those designs and want them. Like most things we’re drawn to them because they speak to us or “for us”. Or even at times “this T-shirt IS me”. I think bumper stickers do the same thing.
When I was in my early twenties I had a black shirt that simply said,”Just be glad I’m not your kid”. It conveyed a story and a message. There was a whole narrative that could be communicated with such a simple phrase. I also had a shirt I used to wear to the gym all the time and it read,”Work fucking harder”.
The story of the first shirt was meant to achieve something for me, that I’m a rebel. I was a challenging child. That my parents had difficulties with me. Blah blah blah… While at the same time it helped me achieve things, it also inhibited things for me as well. It reflected an attachment to that identity too. Sure, I’m a rebel and sure, I was a challenging child but that’s the past… or it could be if I’d just fucking set it down!? Unless I keep bringing into my present day. If I continue to harbor that I limit myself. I keep doors closed and recreate a familiar sphere where I can keep substantiating the story.
Nowadays I simply want my T-shirt to say;
Loving
Generous
Kind
Soulful
To consolidate things for you here I say this; examine and own what attachments you have to outdated stories that create outcomes that are no longer in alignment with your highest priorities or mission in life. Figure out what the current or future based story is and start wearing that T-shirt more often and spread the message.
Thanks for your time.