“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” 

– Andy Warhol 

This piece was born from that feeling—the strange emotional static of being “connected” while feeling deeply unmoored.

Perched on a crescent moon, she scrolls through a glowing screen beneath a sky full of stars—each one a pinprick of possible connection, each one also impossibly distant. Around her, a garden blooms in vivid color, yet her gaze is drawn elsewhere. This is the quiet ache of digital overexposure.

Inspired by research in Communications Psychology showing that despite unprecedented access to stimulation and information, boredom and alienation are on the rise (Tam & Inzlicht, 2024), this piece questions whether our digital tools are feeding our spirits—or slowly dulling them.

The illustration reflects a feedback loop: boredom leads us to scroll, but scrolling often deepens our boredom. As we chase novelty, our sense of meaning and connection thins. Our attention is fractured. Our emotions, flattened.

And yet, we’re all still searching—still sitting under the stars.

Sources:

Tam, K.Y.Y. & Inzlicht, M. (2024). People are increasingly bored in our digital age. Communications Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-024-00155-9