Neutral Jing (Avatar the Last Airbender, unironically. It’s a great expression of the concept). It’s the moment to load energy. The position from which action can be prepared, choices can be perceived and derived, decisions can be analyzed and forked, and finally seeking your moment or exit to execute action/inaction; whether to retreat, give up, or what moving forward looks like from the least biased position (both physically and psychologically). This is true in the all the senses of the term; conceptual psychological, physical (spatial and temporal), or memes. The horror aspect comes into play at being stuck in that position of potential energy.

As human beings we benefit greatly from training, it’s also a great moment to take up a practice if you can get past the discomfort, eg during COVID.