It has become a common trend for individuals, businesses, and even schools to summarize an entire year’s worth of experiences as bite-sized ‘lessons’ and share them on various social media platforms. While the intention behind these posts might stem from a genuine interest in sharing knowledge or celebrating growth, this practice often exudes an air of condescending absurdity. In this article, we will explore this phenomenon and discuss the negative implications of summing up a complex year with lists of superficial lessons.
Firstly, let us address the problem of condensation. By compiling numerous significant life events into easily digestible lists or ‘lessons learned,’ we inadvertently trivialize the complexity and emotions involved in those events. By doing so, such practices often fail to accurately represent the individual’s experiences or their impact throughout the year.
Moreover, one must consider the pretentious undertone that often accompanies such yearly summaries. It can be quite grating for others to read about someone else’s profoundly transformative life experiences condensed into a humblebrag that gives more weight to demonstrating self-improvement than imparting actual wisdom. Furthermore, some people might implicitly convey superiority by claiming to have acquired vast amounts of knowledge within an arbitrary time frame.
Another potential pitfall of sharing lessons from one’s own subjective experiences is the issue of bias and generalizability. One person’s perspective does not reflect universal truths applicable to others’ lives. Consequently, these life lessons may not necessarily be relevant or helpful to those who come across them in their feeds.
In addition, relying on such ‘Year in Review’ summaries for personal growth may foster a tendency to only focus on big moments while neglecting smaller opportunities for development. By looking back on one’s progress merely once a year and in a limited fashion, we overlook the importance of daily reflection and growth – aspects crucial for self-improvement and personal progress.
Finally, the act of curating a list of yearly lessons for public consumption also exposes the prevalence of performative growth in a social media-driven world. This often leads to individuals showcasing their accomplishments or supposed self-growth to gain validation from others rather than engaging in genuine introspection and self-improvement.
To conclude, while posting a year’s worth of lessons may seem like an innocuous way of sharing one’s experiences and insights, it is essential to be aware of the underlying condescension, absurdity, and potential negative implications stemming from such practices. By shifting our focus towards meaningful reflection and growth — both individually and collectively — we can strive towards a more genuine approach to personal development and human connection.
