Through the ages cults of a magnificent variety have offered seekers ways to revivify the human adventure. But the structure that dominates the planet, an old and hearty one, limits this experience by propagating systems of oppression and blandness. Power seekers hope to co-opt ideas - namely the idea of what it is to be human. We are now asked: Are we limited and mechanistic or unbounded and creative? To create the new is the task of our time as humanness is being commodified as quickly as you can say “MTV’s Real World.”

Creating anything in a capitalist society produces a nagging sensation on the heart, as the rules of capital are counter-intuitive to those who perceive abundance. But with a bit of attention the system provides all the needed clues to make the discovery of its flaws. Today I’d like to share one such investigation that I made and the secrets that were revealed to me.

Just over a year ago I put a project into the world - a clothing swap that teaches people how to sew, embroider, knit, silkscreen and make old from new through the existing surplus of used clothing. The event frees people from a dependence on consumerism, reduces landfill, inspires recycling and reunites people with an innate part of their being: creativity. As these swaps find their way to many cities around the world I am repeatedly asked, “Are you going to franchise it? Did you copyright it?” It is the way of the capitalist to lock-down a good idea and then milk it for all it is worth. These questions gave rise to feelings of irritation and so I searched for deeper meaning.

The bi-product of hoarding this good idea is obvious. It would prevent me from transforming the world into one in which I wish to live. But there is something deeper and even more important worth looking at, something that reaches down to our humanness. By franchising my good idea I am telling myself that this is the last good idea I will ever have.

Capitalism asks us to trade belief in ourselves for a monument representing authentic inspiration. Once the monument is built (the franchise, the corporation, the copyright) it begins to collect dust. The creator, once acting on a spark of inspiration, becomes the caretaker of an ageing thought form. New inspiration is not likely to arise outside the confines of maintaining the original idea. The creative person turns into the maintenance worker. Revelation digresses into redundancy.

Now I always come from the perspective of a yogi, and as such I know that vitality is born in the newness brought forth through the body, mind and soul. Just as yoga keeps the body young, newness of thought and engagement in creativity keeps the mind alive through the process of ageing. Mastery of this brings harmony to a life lived on earth. In other words, no idea is your last good idea! The only good idea is the one to continue to create through the duration life.

There is a community that has put this concept to practice, the citizens of Black Rock City (the city built each year for the utopian experiment called Burning Man). Would citizens of Black Rock City preserve their city and reinhabit it year after year? Never. The vibrant and ever-unfolding city would turn into the Marriot before you could say “bad taste.’” What would its citizens do with the 359 days between events if they were not creating or thinking about creating the city that they would build the following year?

The choice is simple, create anew or move energy toward maintaining something old. You might now wonder if a project would benefit from being kept, improved upon and made more magnificent over time. I suggest to you that any yet to be born inspirations will always reflect the experience of its creator. Energy is never lost. Future ideas will naturally benefit from those of the past.

This inquiry also invites consideration of abundance. Not just abundance of self and the belief that one’s self will continue to have ideas and revelations, but belief that the universe is as abundant. The giving of one’s best idea is an act of generosity energized by the will. It says, “there IS abundance” conceptually, creatively and materially. Hording, be it of personal wealth or of a good idea, creates lack. And we are, after all, creating a new world with every idea, thought and action.

As you stand at the edge of the old and catch a glimpse at the many potential futures, ask yourself how you will create what has not yet been? A new world will be brought into being by those who are courageous enough to be abundant. Take this tool for your bag of tricks, “Never take an action that suggests that you have had your last good idea.”