This week’s materials helped me rediscover the importance of “accumulation,” “visualization,” and “habit” in the creative process. “The Miseducation of the Doodle” broke my stereotype of doodling and showed me that it is also a thinking tool that can help focus and organize information. While reading, I thought of the evolution of oracle bone inscriptions and the notes of simultaneous interpreters. Oracle bones were immediate carvings of events, times, weather, animals, and other information about the world. They were not systematic at first but gradually developed structures and grammar through long periods of recording and accumulation. Likewise, in simultaneous interpretation, interpreters do not write full sentences but use symbols, abbreviations, and diagrams to quickly capture the core and logic of information, and then rely on these notes to reconstruct and re-express complex content.

“I Walk Into a White Room” describes the anxiety and fear creators feel when facing the blank page. One sentence struck me deeply: “Some people find this moment—the moment before creativity begins—so painful that they simply cannot deal with it.” I strongly relate to this—before starting a new design or writing project, I often feel the same anxiety, afraid my draft will not look good or my first attempt will be immature, so I hesitate to begin. “Sketching: the Visual Thinking Power Tool also explains that the true value of doodling and sketching lies in rapid exploration, communication, and iteration rather than in achieving perfect aesthetics. Using doodles or sketches to externalize ideas first can lower the threshold and break psychological barriers. This advice seems to give me a way to start acting with more courage in the “blank moment.”