“Navel-gazing” refers to excessive self-reflection, often implying self-centeredness and neglect of important issues. It originated from religious ascetics who meditated on their navels. The navel is considered a powerful symbol in many cultures. The term can also be used derogatorily to describe those who are too focused on their own problems.
The term “navel-gazing” is used to refer to intense self-reflection, often with the implication that the individual observing is self-centered or that they are too focused on a single issue, at the cost of ignoring other important issues. Being accused of navel gazing isn’t necessarily a bad thing; sometimes a little contemplation can be a productive pursuit, especially when someone is trying to make a decision about something important. In addition to being used to refer to individuals, the term is sometimes evoked in reference to groups or organizations, as in “navel-gazing newspaper editorial pages has become a bit too boring for me, so I deleted my subscription .”
The references to navel-gazing seem to have emerged from the observation of some religious ascetics; observers believed that some religious practitioners were staring at their navels to enter deep meditative reveries. It is certainly true that some meditation poses put people in a prime position for this process, and contemplating one’s navel could have powerful connotations in religions where people view the navel as the center of life or as a source of energy. A specific term has even been invented to describe religious gaze at the navel: “omphaloskepsis,” from the Greek words for “navel” and “investigation.”
Many cultures, including the Greeks, associate tremendous power with the navel. Obviously, the navel is a connection to one’s mother’s life force, via the umbilical cord, so in some cultures it is seen as a center or starting point. In several societies, people have specified particular sites as the “navel of the world,” ranging from Delphi to Easter Island. These sites were believed to have religious significance as centers of culture and religion for members of these societies.
In the 1900s, “navel-gazing” began to take on the additional meaning of being used to refer to people who seemed extremely self-centered or unaware of their surroundings because they were too focused on their own problems. In this sense, the term is generally understood to be derogatory, in the sense that someone needs to open their awareness a bit to think beyond the current situation, or to consider others. In this sense, navel gazing is seen as rather self-indulgent.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
