ruminations
Prolonged mental chewing
Ruminations are prolonged, often repetitive thoughts or reflections.
The word carries a sense of turning something over in the mind again and again: His late-night ruminations kept him awake.
The term comes from the digestive process of cows and other ruminants, who chew, swallow, regurgitate, and rechew their food.
Mental rumination can be productive contemplation or unproductive brooding: She tried to stop her anxious ruminations about the interview.
Focused attention practice
- musingReflective contemplation
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- cogitationCareful, prolonged consideration
reflection · brooding · speculation · consideration · reverie · daydreaming · absorption · preoccupation
Anxiously dwelling on something
- fixationPersistent mental attachment
- preoccupationAbsorbing mental focus
- dwellingPlace of residence
- overthinkingDwelling excessively on thoughts
churning · perseveration · rehashing · replaying · stewing · agonizing · worrying · gnawing
Rechewing regurgitated food
- regurgitationEjecting swallowed material
- bovineOf the cattle family
- cudRechewed stomach contents
- rechewingMasticating a second time
fermentation · digestion · grazing · herbivore · stomach · mastication
Examining one's own mind
- self-examinationScrutiny of one's thoughts
- soul-searchingProbing one's innermost feelings
- self-analysisScrutinizing one's own psyche
- self-questioningProbing one's own thoughts
self-scrutiny · self-awareness · metacognition · self-discovery · self-observation · self-perception · mindfulness · self-inquiry
State of eventual death
- purposeReason something exists
- ethicsStudy of right conduct
- metaphysicalBeyond the material realm
- ontologicalConcerning existence's nature
epistemological · nihilistic · absurdist · phenomenological · weltanschauung · cosmological · teleological · theodicy
meditation
Focused attention practice
- musingReflective contemplation
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
cogitation · reflection · brooding · speculation · consideration · reverie · daydreaming · absorption · preoccupation · dwelling
brooding
Anxiously dwelling on something
- fixationPersistent mental attachment
- preoccupationAbsorbing mental focus
- dwellingPlace of residence
overthinking · churning · perseveration · rehashing · replaying · stewing · agonizing · worrying · gnawing · haunting
cud-chewing
Rechewing regurgitated food
- regurgitationEjecting swallowed material
- bovineOf the cattle family
- cudRechewed stomach contents
rechewing · fermentation · digestion · grazing · herbivore · stomach · mastication
self-reflection
Examining one's own mind
- self-examinationScrutiny of one's thoughts
- soul-searchingProbing one's innermost feelings
- self-analysisScrutinizing one's own psyche
self-questioning · self-scrutiny · self-awareness · metacognition · self-discovery · self-observation · self-perception · mindfulness · self-inquiry · navel-gazing
mortality
State of eventual death
- purposeReason something exists
- ethicsStudy of right conduct
- metaphysicalBeyond the material realm
ontological · epistemological · nihilistic · absurdist · phenomenological · weltanschauung · cosmological · teleological · theodicy · determinism
- thoughtsthought, idea, thoughts, ideas, thinking
- reflective writingreflections, meditations, journals, diaries, personal essays
- travel writingtravelogue, travelogues, travel memoir, travel memoirs, travel diaries
- collected writingsanthology, compilations, compilation, collections, excerpts
ruminationssnap judgments
Rapid assessments without deliberation
snap decisions · knee-jerk reactions · gut reactions · split-second decisions · impulses
ruminationsletting go
Releasing one's grasp
thoughtlessness · peace of mind · inattention · mindfulness · obliviousness