contemplation

Related to contemplation: contemplation of death

navel-contemplation

The act of excessively focusing on one's personal problems or concerns, to the exclusion of other people or other issues. She said my navel-contemplation was one of the biggest reasons she broke up with me. If our party is going to be successful in the future, then we can't be dragged down by navel-contemplation about the loss of this election.

navel-gazing

The act of excessively focusing on one's personal problems or concerns, to the exclusion of other people or other issues. She said my navel-gazing was one of the biggest reasons she broke up with me. If our party is going to be successful in the future, then we can't be dragged down by navel-gazing about the loss of this election.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

navel-gazing

or

navel-contemplation

If you accuse someone of navel-gazing or navel-contemplation, you are criticizing them for thinking only about themselves and their own problems or activities, rather than the problems or activities of other people. Tory MP Martin Brison says he is more interested in developing policies for the future than in navel-gazing about the past. He called for an end to Labor's post-election navel-gazing. Note: Navel-gazing can be used before a noun. The film is a sort of navel-gazing look at Hollywood. Note: You can also say that someone gazes at their navel or contemplates their navel. The Institute has always been notorious for contemplating its own navel. Note: These expressions are used to show disapproval. Note: Your navel is your tummy button or belly button.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • navel-contemplation
  • navel-gazing
  • navel
  • contemplate
  • contemplate (one's) navel
  • contemplate your navel
  • gaze
  • gaze at (one's) navel
  • low blow
  • (as) vain as a peacock
References in periodicals archive
We must strive to achieve the harmonious blend of contemplation and action.
Contemplation and religious activism
Ignatius of Loyola was a big advocate of contemplation, and side by side with this, he often used the word 'relish.' Whenever one finds grace or consolation at some point or moment of prayer, he suggests that one should stay with it and relish it.
Taking stock of things in our daily lives
In an article published in the Los Angeles Times, David Ulin points out that reading is an act of contemplation in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being.
The Lost Art Of Reading
"I kid you not, action and contemplation walked right in front of me," Rohr said, noting that that image inspired him when he founded his center in 1986.
Rohr: Church needs 'awakening of the soul'
First, I want to explore the relationship between contemporary technology and the possibility of contemplation today.
Borgmann on Merton: exploring the possibility of contemplation in a technological age
Partakers of the Divine: Contemplation and the Practice of Philosophy.
Partakers of the Divine: Contemplation and the Practice of Philosophy
However my practice of daily appointment with God and myself (contemplation), serious reading of books and interaction with the simple villagers enabled me to reinvent myself.
Power of Spirituality of Being
The holy month of Ramadan is for worship, contemplation, deep reflection and observance, said Richard Eldah, the charge d' affairs at the British Embassy in Riyadh.
'Ramadan a month to remember the less fortunate'
The New Jersey inheritance tax applies not only to testamentary dispositions but also transfers made in contemplation of death.
Planning for the new Jersey Inheritance tax
Action, Contemplation, and Happiness: An Essay on Aristotle.
Reeve, C. D. C. Action, Contemplation, and Happiness: An Essay on Aristotle
1-3) is essentially foundational, defining the practices of contemplation and mindfulness and making a case as to why it is important to practice these disciplines.
The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being
I want to take my own consciousness as an object of contemplation as it presents itself to me under the influence of pot.
Ascent for Myron Stout and Ralph Ellison
Mannisto also tackled the topic of hyperconnectivity recently in her article "Restoring Contemplation: How Disconnecting Bolsters the Knowledge Economy" in the March issue of OITP Perspectives, which is published by the American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP).
Dealing with hyperconnectivity