Discovering Something Old

Sometimes it is better to not change things and I hate to admit it. Every day of my life I look foreword to doing something new. I love to discover new works of art or music. Strange and curious wonders from every type of culture capture my imagination. Foreign films, abstract art, vandalism, Puritan sermons, beta software, nature photography, and video games appeal to the same vein that runs through my entire body. They all present something new for me to discover. I used to think that you can’t discover old things. I was wrong. This week I have been learning that the old can be just as fascinating as the new. The truth is that we rarely have the whole story about old stuff. Trends and strategies that seem passé are often more revolutionary than the latest and greatest ideas of today.  Why are these old ideas so interesting you may ask? One primary reason: they succeeded.

Watch and 80’s music video. What do you see? You see the same old colors, cinematography, sounds and hair. But that was once cutting edge. The people who pioneered music television were far ahead of the game and influenced culture in profound ways. You can learn something from them. Successful ideas may seem played out but they all contain a timeless nugget of truth.

Timeless truths lie hidden in the strategies of yesterday. Theories of leadership, outreach, and marketing can be found in the exhausted trends of yester year. The methods may be old but the messages found within will never go out of style. Look for the baby in the bathwater before you toss things out. Learn how to distill the truth of the past from popular culture. I am learning how to broaden my view beyond contemporary media and discover something old for the first time.