Starting to scrapbook digitally can feel slightly intimidating. It is wonderful to think that you can preserve your family heritage in a way that allows for speed, creativity, no mess, and the ability to share the results with as many people as you wish with a click of your mouse. And yet it may feel slightly overwhelming to think of everything you need to learn to create the same type of layouts as the ones you admire.

This internal conflict often comes because we have unrealistic expectations of ourselves. If our initial results aren't what we imagined them to be, we become self-critical and even think we may not have enough talent to do it.

I say, “Don't be so mean to yourself!”

Do you remember when you were little and you drew your first house? Wasn't that a great feeling? But really, how masterful a work was it? I'm willing to bet that you could draw an improved version today.

Learning to digitally scrapbook is just like acquiring any other skill. You have to take it step by step.

So let's talk about some of the survival tools you will need during your journey.

Desire

Desire to learn is the basis of all knowledge acquisition processes. The strength of your desire affects how determined you will be and how well you will take the set backs that are part of any learning process. If your desire is relatively weak, then any bump in the road will send you packing.

I used to see this all of the time when I was teaching music. If I had to choose what was the most important factor in a student's success - talent or desire, I would undoubtedly pick desire. Frankly, it used to distress me how often I saw students with great talent, which I consider to be a gift from God, choose to discard their talent because they would rather watch TV.

What a shame.

On the other hand, I saw less gifted kids win scholarships by sheer will. They were busy kids because people with desire motivate themselves to accomplish things. But they were fully engaged in life. They had desire.

If you WANT to learn how to digitally scrapbook, you will be able to do it. There are resources to help you learn. We have some great ones here. And you'll ask questions and experiment and practice. In the end, your desire will carry you there - even if you have a very full life.

Kill the Critic

Suspend in mid-air your little self that tells you your efforts aren't good enough. Make the little beast stand on the sidewalk outside where you can't hear her nagging voice tell you to quit. Understand that every layout won't be a masterpiece and you'll be happier when you do have one of those creative flashes that are so enjoyable.

One at a Time

If you think that you are going to start and finish your entire life's history in an afternoon, you will quickly get discouraged. You may even quit, saying that you “don't have time” to scrap. The disconnect is in the expectation, not the actual time spent scrapping. Every layout finished gets you one layout further along your memory path. Every story told is one more that your family wouldn't have if you hadn't created that layout. Just keep going and fit it in when you can. Stop pressuring yourself and the joy will return.

If you take these approaches with every aspect of the art, from learning new tricks in your software to trying out new product types, you will find that you are not only surviving the experience of learning to digitally scrapbook, you are thriving.

So scrappers, start your engines... let's go!

- Ro