The pause, with all its symbolic import, teaches us what Socrates tried to teach the ancient Greeks: Know Thyself!
We are all addicts, in bondage to our Big Dopamine pleasures. However, the pause is the key.
Big Dopamine wants to rush in and fill up the pause, but before it does, right there in the moment, we can appreciate the Little Dopamine.
I can’t emphasize this point enough: it stands to reason that if we can sense big amounts of dopamine, we must at some time, just like the creatures with whom we evolved, have not lost their appreciation for little amounts of dopamine.
In the pause, we can notice and choose the landmarks that matter to us. Instead of reacting to signs, and running off after matter in the outer landscape, we can pause and take stock of our inner landscape.
The pause makes all the difference in the world. It reveals the symbols in which we find meaning, the ones which are NOT powered by Big Dopamine, which give life real meaning and importance.
The landmarks and the pathways of our inner landscapes are determined by the symbols that we call our own.
These are the symbols that we choose. We cannot ever know if we choose them or they choose us – it’s an act of faith, for they will possess us!