The holiday season culminates with year-end lists and New Year’s prognostications that range from the sacred to the ridiculous. Some people truly are anxious to know who the top ten reality TV stars of 2011 will be, while others seek insight as to whether their life direction is fulfilling and meaningful.

The answers in either case can be debated endlessly (or so we’re told when it comes to reality TV), but that doesn’t stop us from trying for answers. And what if we tap an experience with the trivial to inform the profound? Check out what we mean in the latest installment of Under the Lense.