I recently attended a symphony of a composer I know almost nothing about. The composer’s name is Gustav Mahler, and all I really know about him is that my son likes his music so much that he talked our entire family into going to LA to attend a series of concerts featuring his works.

That’s a 1000 mile trip, folks.

Thankfully, I had other reasons to come to LA, too. I got to attend the 2012 CHA convention as well as a business convention. But I digress.

So there I was at the concert hall, seated way up high on the front row of the balcony, and the music began—Mahler’s 7th Symphony, which was not well received when it was first performed and is rarely performed to this day.

I have to say, it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. I often use concerts as background music for my own mental meanderings, but Mahler hardly let me daydream, and he kept me from falling asleep, which, considering the short night and long hours of the day before, was nothing short of a miracle.

And quite often Mahler made me say, “Wow!” Not out loud, of course. Not like the guy three seats away from me who was tapping his foot in time to the music.

Later it occurred to me that the Mahler concert had 3 great lessons that just happen to apply very well to scrapbooking.

1. Don’t be afraid to try something new, something out of your comfort zone.

What if I had decided not to attend the concert, since I wasn’t very familiar with the composer? I would have missed out on an enjoyable and memorable event. It took my son’s suggestion to spur me on—I never would have attended out of my own initiative.

At Digital Scrapper we offer scrapbooking challenges every month. It may be something new to you or out of your comfort zone, but I encourage you to accept the challenge and see how much you learn and enjoy. You’ll find these challenges right here on the Digital Scrapper Blog!

2. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

When musicians perform together, the effect is exponentially greater than a single violin or bass fiddle. There is so much synergy that happens as one person (the conductor) leads the entire orchestra to perform one piece of music.

I’m experiencing that synergy right now with the Your Story. Brilliant. class. In this analogy, I’m the conductor and all the class members are musicians. As we concentrate our energies on one topic, the stories of our lives, the effect is powerful and inspiring!

If you haven’t taken one of our classes yet, I challenge you to give it a try.

3. Listen to music as you scrapbook

As we were settling into our seats before the concert, my daughter, Allison, commented on what she had read about creativity. There are certain things that get your right brain (the creative part of your brain) into gear, such as really looking at things in a focused way, listening, especially to music, and being aware of your feelings. All of this will start your creative juices flowing.

Repetitive actions—such as chopping vegetables, the sound of the water as you’re taking a shower, and even driving a car—will also trigger creative thoughts.

How does that apply to scrapbooking? For starters, turn on music while scrapping! And scrap while you’re in the shower or chopping vegetables. Not literally, of course, but use that time to think about your next page or what you want to say with your journaling.

Then get ready to be pleasantly pleased, or even astounded, by your own creativity!