Pre. S. (If there is a “P.S.” can I make up a “Pre. S”?) – There is a challenge at the end of this blog post and I hope you take it!

My son is taking Western Civilization this year.  They’ve been learning about Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and many other thought leaders of Ancient Greece.  Their views still have value today and much of who we are today is based on the foundation of what they were doing back in 420 BC – give or take.

Then today as I was doing my usual morning – check email, check the spam box in case I missed email, check in on Twitter and Facebook – something weird happened. All of the sudden people where telling me why we should pay attention to things from 50 years ago.  Not 40, not 25, both of these people talked about things from 50 years ago.

Well one thing, that’s cool.  But two within 2 minutes?  That makes me take notice.  And they were both about creative people.  I felt compelled to share.

The first thing that drew my attention was a tweet from @Franciskus: Happy 50th birthday, Asterix! with a link to an article on “The History Blog”.  Well that just put a HUGE SMILE on my face!  Asterix is a French cartoon character from Gaul who lived in the one village that resists being divided into three parts by Julius Caesar.  The antics that ensued!

When I was a junior in high school (a mere year older than my son – how can that be?) I lived in France as an exchange student.  I remember reading Asterix and seeing an exhibit at some museum in Paris featuring scenes from some of the stories.  Great character from across the pond if you care to check him out.  I’ll be dusting off my copy (I know right where it is!) and taking a trip down memory lane.

Off Twitter and on to check in on Facebook. There I find my friend Marty Fahncke‘s news feed say this: Reading Why ‘Charlotte’s Web’ Suddenly Matters to Marketing (RT @lihsa) – which was actually posted on Twitter and then listed to Facebook so I don’t know who to give credit – except that I saw it on Facebook.  Well that’s another title that brings you back so I clicked on the link to see what they had to say.  I couldn’t figure out what one had to do with the other and needed to know!

It was an interesting read about not being too full of jargon in your writing, being authentic and being clear and concise… (hmm… perhaps this post is a bit chatty… oh well! I’m on a roll.)  Then at the bottom… 50.  I didn’t realize that EB White, author of Charlotte’s Web* and Stuart Little* was also the co-author of The Elements of Style – which has a 50th Anniversary edition*.

So what’s the point, you ask? The point is, I believe that with all the changes and advances in technology these days – where last week can become irrelevant online, we sometimes forget that that isn’t true across the board.  There are things that remain valid for thousands of years (back to Plato and Co…) as well as 50.

So today I challenge you to find something else celebrating a 50th Anniversary and find it’s relevance or lesson for today. And I would love for you to share it in the comments since I’m completely intrigued as to why 50th Anniversaries have come to my attention today…

Here’s to your search & your creative success!

– Tara

* FTC DISCLOSURE: the Amazon links are affiliate links and by clicking them I would earn a commission if you make a purchase.