heart-searching
Deep personal reflection
Heart-searching is deep, honest self-examination, especially about one's motives, values, or past actions.
The term suggests looking inward with uncomfortable honesty rather than comfortable self-justification: After much heart-searching, she decided to leave the company.
Often appears as an adjective: a heart-searching conversation about where we went wrong.
Focused attention practice
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- musingReflective contemplation
reflection · brooding · cogitation · thinking · absorption · concentration · philosophizing · speculation
Moral self-reproach
- remorseGuilt for wrongdoing
- moralityRight and wrong principles
- scruplesMoral reservations about acting
- principlesFoundational moral beliefs
penitence · accountability · compunction · repentance · shame · integrity · honesty · sincerity
Scrutiny of one's thoughts
- self-scrutinyCritical examination of oneself
- self-questioningProbing one's own thoughts
- self-analysisScrutinizing one's own psyche
- self-reflectionExamining one's own mind
self-awareness · self-discovery · self-understanding · self-inquiry · self-assessment · self-evaluation · self-critique · self-observation
meditation
Focused attention practice
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
musing · reflection · brooding · cogitation · thinking · absorption · concentration · philosophizing · speculation · prayerful
guilt
Moral self-reproach
- remorseGuilt for wrongdoing
- moralityRight and wrong principles
- scruplesMoral reservations about acting
principles · penitence · accountability · compunction · repentance · shame · integrity · honesty · sincerity · righteousness
self-examination
Scrutiny of one's thoughts
- self-scrutinyCritical examination of oneself
- self-questioningProbing one's own thoughts
- self-analysisScrutinizing one's own psyche
self-reflection · self-awareness · self-discovery · self-understanding · self-inquiry · self-assessment · self-evaluation · self-critique · self-observation · inward-looking
heart-searchingthoughtlessness
Lack of careful consideration
flippancy · glibness · mindlessness · superficiality · shallowness
heart-searchingself-deception
Convincing yourself of falsehoods
denial · avoidance · evasion · self-delusion · willful blindness
heart, hearts, hearted, heartfelt, heartless, heartily, hearty, search, searches