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Art as a Bridge to Mental Well-Being

• Dr. Roldan • Season 4 • Episode 5

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Ever wondered how art can offer healing in times of emotional turmoil? Join us as we welcome J. Salvador, the creative genius behind Super Emo Friends, who reshaped his artistic journey by turning superheroes into relatable, humorously sad characters. Jay’s story truly highlights how art can serve as a bridge to mental well-being. From his early days as a touring painter to an unexpected transition into tattooing, we discuss the therapeutic nature of art for both creators and those who engage with it.

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Disclaimer: It's essential to note that while I am a therapist, this podcast is not a substitute for therapy. The stories and discussions shared here are meant to inform and inspire but should not replace professional advice or support. 


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Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Jay Salvador from. Super Emo Friends and I'm excited to be part of the new season of our Oasis community right here. I hope to hear you guys soon.

Speaker 2:

Hello beautiful souls and welcome to our Oasis community podcast. I am Dr Roldan, your host. I am a doctor in clinical psychology, a BIPOC therapist professor and a mindful somatic coach. While I am a therapist, remember I'm not your therapist. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health care, but we have resources in our website and Instagram to support you in that search. Join us for a cozy, felt conversation about mental health, personal growth and mindfulness. We explore tools to care for your mind, your body and your soul. Check the footnotes for disclaimer, trigger warnings and additional resources for each one of the episodes. So grab your favorite cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate, wrap yourself in a warm blanket and find a coffee spot here with us to be kind to be brave, loud and strong in your search of mental health wellness. Welcome to your Oasis, to your oasis.

Speaker 1:

My name is Jay Salvador and I am an artist living in Los Angeles, but I will soon be traveling a lot. I've got a bunch of cons that I do. I sell my art at comic conventions. I've got a lot of fans and collectors. I've been doing it since about 2009,. And it's just been the most rewarding, craziest experience I'd ever had. Yeah, so at this point it's been about what 12 years or something that I've just kind of been doing this. I haven't worked really. I haven't had a job.

Speaker 1:

It's really surreal to be in this place, but my art is unique because it has sad characters, but they're funny and sometimes people laugh. Yeah, there's the book. Sometimes people laugh, sometimes people cry. Sometimes it's just supposed to be thought-provoking and emotionally charged, but emotionally being funny is kind of the primary emotion that I want to convey through my art.

Speaker 1:

Along the way of conventions and touring around meeting people in all these different cities, there was always like a little niche of therapists and counselors. They would just be like your art is great. This is what our community loves. We need to talk about feelings. We need to normalize depression feelings. We need to normalize depression. Um, and having having sad feelings are even superheroes get the blues is one of these um headlines. That a podcaster, so they went viral in 2009. There's all these articles that came out and they're and through that I was just kind of surprised. I was like, wow, I was just being a sad Batman, you know. But there were so many different layers to it for people and for therapists that they were really attracted to it. So I illustrated a book, a therapy book for somebody.

Speaker 1:

Of course, I met you, doctor, and just being able to find a crowd that was more in the help and the self-help, because sometimes I feel like my art, like what's the point of this art? It's just like it's not doing anything to make the world better. And people always say like no, no, your art is healing, it helps. It's like so therapeutic, and I say, okay, well, if that's the case, I'll keep doing it. So, yeah, I continue to keep doing it and I've slowed down a little bit right now because after over a decade, I mean burnout is real. I feel like I've done and said what I needed to do with it. You know, I'm going to the same cause and I'm just there's so many emo friends I have to either get rid of some, make room for new ones, like how many more do I need to tell this story? Do I need to tell this story? And? But recently I started to transition to learn how to do tattooing and that's just kind of like we'll be artists, so now you're doing tattooing too, yeah.

Speaker 1:

And it's funny because I was helping out at a shop last night and this woman comes in and it was like a Friday the 13th flash, so tattoos were 20 bucks and you could get like, and this woman comes in and it was like a Friday the 13th flash sale, so tattoos were 20 bucks and you could get like these little tattoos. And this woman comes in and she's just like I think I need to come back, like tomorrow, and it's like oh yeah. She's like, yeah, this is therapy, like for real, like this is therapy, and I'm like whoa, so tattooing is therapy too. Real, Like this is therapy, and I'm like whoa, so tattooing is therapy too. So I'm still in the right world Because, yeah, I would just tell the customers there's a lot of first timers there and we're just like welcomed Somebody who's like welcome to the disease or something like that, where you're just addicted to this physical pain of the needle and the ink.

Speaker 2:

And hearing that as kind of a form of therapy was fascinating to me, so yeah that's my spiel. Thank you so much for that. So I or community or Oasis community, what we do is give us space to grab what you need, uh, and take a break, kind of like it was a bow tie for you, when you say, oh, burnout, because even artists and when we do our passion, we love it right, but also when we overdo it, it become not anymore healthy for us um and yes that Salvador and I we met when I was not a doctor yet, I was still in school, oh wow.

Speaker 2:

And yeah, like was back in the day. I remember when I was you know, like becoming a therapist is very, very strict, the way that they teach you and do and whatever and I was like, no, it has to be more than just this type. You know, like I, I can reach either teenage years or, in my case, I work with first responders in active duty, talking about heroes having feelings oh, wow, and I show them yeah, and I remember that uh one time in those uh crazy conventions uh I met him and say there is any way that you can give me all your tissues.

Speaker 2:

He was looking at me like what Remember. And he was like what do you want tissues for? Because that was a reminder to my clients. I will give it to them and say go check this, find your favorite character and we talk about it.

Speaker 2:

And then we'll find somebody and that will open it to talk and to heal because, like you say, it's so representative of stories that we have gone through or um, you know it's easier to talk in a third person versus your own story we can talk about. Uh, for example, I'm a super fan of studio jubilee, as you can see, I have two of your things. And even the tattoo too.

Speaker 1:

So that's why I was like you do tattoos, Tattoos.

Speaker 2:

And it's because their stories are so beautiful and so mindful. And the same with my clients. Right, I have like three of your books in my clinic and I always say grab your favorite uh or characters to talk. So my question to you is how do you start to do this cartoon? So this art for us is art, and what drive you to it? It was just something that just happened, or you do it as a way to find a voice, or it was a healing process for you. Can you walk us through that?

Speaker 1:

yeah, I mean, it's kind of interesting. I was, um, you know I'm meeting as I'm getting into the tattoo world. I'm trying to like find a mentor and like, hey, I want to learn tattoo, will you teach me? And they're like who are you right? Well, I'm this artist that did all these paintings and I've been touring the you know the country for 12 years and, um, so I've got a lot of fans and collectors. I, I'm an artist. They're like, okay, cool, um, but they see the emo friends. And I'm like, wait, but I do other stuff too.

Speaker 1:

But it's been so long since I've done other stuff that I had to dig out artwork from high school. And some of this artwork is just like really like dark and sad. And I was like, well, I'm just seeing like the technical skill and I'm like these are great. I was a good artist in high school, right? Um, and I'm showing them to the mentors. I showed my friend and she's like wow, were you really sad back then too? And I'm like, oh, I guess these are kind of moody. And I'm like, yeah, I guess, but, um, I don't know, just kind of like being unhappy a lot. I guess. That's like I'm pretty prone to being unhappy and I I forgot about it because I'm still like super happy. Just from the tattoo world that I tapped into that, I'm just like charged up again. But I, looking back, I'm like, oh yeah, there was a depression. There was a depression, there was a depression and I realized that even even doing art was like not making me happy. It's like, okay, this is, I'm not, I'm not good enough, I'm never gonna get a job. You know, I'm trying to get become an animator, I'm trying to become a game. You know, character designer and I just see everybody's art. You know that's doing it. I'm like I'm not good, never mind, I'm not an artist. So I started to abandon the idea of being an artist because everybody was so much better than me.

Speaker 1:

Um, but I had a girlfriend. This was like 2000, 2009, and I was just kind of like freaking out about my life where am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? Actually, girlfriend, I don't think we should be together because I'm just not in a good place to be in a relationship and like I, I think we need to break up. And she was just like what? And it just like destroyed everything.

Speaker 1:

And I woke up the next day just feeling awful. It's like, oh my God, I'm like the worst person in the world and I this was like at a party too, and I was like drunk and didn't know. But the next morning I'm looking through my sketchbook and I had drawn something that night. It was the Batman saying my parents are dead Because the friend of mine made like a joke about it or something. And I just sketched it and I saw it the next morning and I was like that's cute, that's really dark, that's depressing. And I was like that's cute, that's really dark, that's depressing.

Speaker 1:

And I was like just depressed all weekend. I just, you know, broke up with my girlfriend feeling stupid and then, um, I was like you know what? I'm just gonna paint this right now, and I just painted the sad batman and then I was feeling better. I was like, oh, what else is there? There's spider-man, there's rogue, there's wolverine, like all these characters that I knew that were so mighty and powerful, and just kind of like nailing them where it might hurt the most in some sort of ironic way. Like wolverine, everyone's getting old, wolverine doesn't age and I have that feeling myself where I'm in my mid-40s and people still think I'm like what I thought you were like in your early 30s or something right. I'm like, yeah, I know right, like the curse of like not aging and everybody else around you getting old and dying and stuff like that's what makes wolverine sad, like even though he's made out of all this, you know fine metals and and in just like invincible. But um, so, tapping into those things like just cheered me up.

Speaker 1:

I was painting those was like oh wow, like I feel better, kind of. I mean, eventually, I like apologized to my girlfriend. We got together again. Then it didn't last much longer, but you know, young love is dumb. So, uh, I ended up just kind of creating the emo friends out of that experience and to think that everybody just like rushed it. What this? This is amazing, this is the coolest thing. Like you need to make prints of these. Hey, bring these to my gallery, hey, sell these at my shop, hey, put these up at the con. And I'm like whoa, whoa. This was like one of the dumbest times of my life, the saddest, dumbest times of my life, and this came out of it. Saddest times of my life, and this came out of it. And so being able to like, have emotional, like feelings from the real world and then kind of like finding a fictional character that kind of has some similar kind of experience, and just seeing that the best stories are emotional stories. That you look back at old disney films and people are just like bawling their eyes out when his mom gets shot or whatever, right or time or, you know, all dogs go to heaven like it's like oh my gosh, it's

Speaker 1:

so sad. It's like, well, that's kind of required in good storytelling, you know, and nowadays the there film because I'm a film nerd, obviously my, my art is a reflection of kind of like film criticism as well writing and story and character development. But yeah, more stories recently like they just they don't really go sad, no, hardly deep and dark. It's like, wow, there's somebody I connect with and so the emo friends, the super emo friends, what happened was seeing how people connected with these characters in such emotional ways. There's a Doctor who print that I have that just says I don't want to go, and that's like traumatic for people. They come up and they see that and they're just like, oh, and they like walk away and they're like, oh, this isn't good for sales, but that's a best-selling print, you know.

Speaker 1:

Right, Because it like just touches somebody with that emotion and they want that emotional feeling. There's something out there, that pain, that tattoo thing. Like I need to feel the pain and I have a never-ending story piece like the most traumatic moment in everyone's childhood is when a trade whose horse, artex, sinks because he's sad, and he literally sinks because he's sad and it traumatized everybody and you know jet xers, but we're all connected on that and I made that pin and it's a best-selling pin and people like, why did you make this? And I just say you know it's so I can find my people, so we can connect, so we can understand. We're all trauma bonding over this scene from this movie and it makes us all kind of like equal and understand each other in a way, each other in a way.

Speaker 1:

So my art and connecting to like emotional moments like that they're getting harder and harder to come by, um, so I think that's sticking with the 80s and at early 90s and stuff like that it's there, but, um, it's not always easy because I don't want to just exploit tragedy and depression and sadness. I want to like make light of it. I want to make it seem like, oh, hey, yeah, remember that, yeah, I remember that, but also like we're feeling better now, right Connecting with people on those kind of feelings.

Speaker 2:

Right, and the beauty of, and I don't think you, normally artists don't recognize how beautiful and wonderful and cathartic the art is for the rest of us, right? Right Because you're in the thick of it. One time when we were in one of the conventions I grabbed one of my friends like no, you have to come and see this. It's like you have to Right. Thank you.

Speaker 2:

And she was like, oh, this is so great, they were so creepy, this is blah, blah, blah. And I was like I understand why you feel like that, because you have never experienced any of this.

Speaker 2:

You know some, some of some of us are more privileged than others and they haven't experienced certain traumas. Some of us are more privileged than others and they haven't experienced certain traumas. But I was like but no, this is amazing because it's making you react and actually now we can have a conversation of like why do you like this? Like you say Batman, and we're like why do you like this? Because I have many people that have lost their parents through war X, y and Z.

Speaker 2:

And we can talk about it. We can talk about Batman before I can talk to them.

Speaker 1:

Right right.

Speaker 2:

And your art does that right. And when we were talking with her, we were talking like remember Picasso, everybody thought that he was crazy because he did squares and shapes and everything. And then everybody else will see decades later how beautiful his art was, because he was in that um frenzy of like everything doesn't make sense and we don't fit anywhere, right when the changing come and I love that your art, like you say, it's not so much trauma bond as more, as much as this trauma understanding, like you understand trauma and don't shy from it, right Like the problem that we have in this epidemic of mental health that we have, which it has been for years.

Speaker 2:

It's not just now, now we talk about it, but you were one of those pioneers that allow people to talk about it that allow to to to say hey you know I have this piece of art. Let me talk about it. Or for the parents out there if your kids or teens are listening or writing or drawing things that they may seem scary for you, ask them why they're doing that. What is the connection in there?

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because art is meant to be talked about and felt it and your art makes three things things makes or child memories. Because, like you say, like we all got traumatized when bambi got shot, like yeah the mom is like I can't believe they did that, or um the ending story, and now I feel like the new generations don't get that, because they like you say, the movies and the new art is not as good as it used to be back in the day but.

Speaker 2:

I think it's because before, in the 80s and 90s, where we're not allowed to talk about that, so we have to find outlets.

Speaker 2:

Oh interesting, yeah to talk about it now we are allowed a little, but you said that there was an outlet for you, for your, for your mental health, right, a reflection of how were you feeling, um, which I'm very glad. Now that you say, like, well, now I'm going to tattoos, which I was like, oh no, he's feeling a different way, which is great. So what kind of message you would like to send to either the fans or the people that doesn't know you about your art? Because the beauty of art is that live past the person that created, live through decades. It live to many, many, many years after you almost like a legacy.

Speaker 2:

So I I, when you say, um, I'm a, I feel like I'm not good enough, I feel like this and that I was like. Well, picasso always felt like that too, and look where he ended. So, um, how do you see yourself in the future Knowing what you know now, like? Your art is love, and you have fans all over, not just here in the United States or in Latin America, you have around the world fans. So how that makes you feel and what you go from here.

Speaker 1:

Oh wow. Well, like I said, it does feel a little like been there, done that and I was going through, especially after covet, I didn't know what would happen if conventions never came back. That's what covet, my career, felt like. It was just like okay, you're done. Because that was, I quit my job to do cons. So without cons, without people, it was I was a nobody again. Luckily there were, there were ways to sell online with there's like pop shop live that came out during covid, which is kind of a QVC type thing like hey, buy my pin, push this button and I'll ship it to you.

Speaker 1:

And then I was selling all my original paintings I had. I was hoarding my original paintings of all the emo friends and I was like I'm just gonna save them, you know, for my funeral costs. You know, that's like my dark humor. And then it was well, kovitz here, so maybe I'll sell this painting and people would buy them all. And I was like, whoa, they're still out, my fans are still here, they, they're buying my art and uh. So I survived through that. But it did go through my mind of like, yeah, but I should be ready in case it happens again. What else can I do? Also burnout, and you know, I did this show like for 30 years and my sales just keep dropping and it's kind of like that where I'm like I need to diversify, I need to change, I need to, I need to do something new.

Speaker 1:

Because people come by like these are still great, man, good to see you, and they walk away. You know like what can I do that will bring that person and excite them about what I'm doing, but also excite me about what I'm doing. So I was losing the steam and the motivation to keep going with emo friends and I ended up searching everywhere like long term, like you're saying, like where do I see the future? And I was like, well, what if I got into real estate? What if I got into hvac or plumbing or electric solar, became a carpenter, like things that had basically took the emo friends and just said, okay, and that was a past life, that's it, never again, right? And that was like the death of the emo friend, that was the death of the artist. And I'm like, oh man, I start studying these things like this is cool and all.

Speaker 1:

But then it hit me like I'm in my mid 40s, I'm taking a welding class, everybody in here is like 19 and 22 and they're gonna go to the navy and they're gonna become like, or they're gonna go to aerospace, you know. But I show up in my 40s and I'm like who are you like? What have you been doing? Like, why are you doing welding now? And it's like, yeah, I don't know, man, I don't know what I'm doing. And then somehow the universe pointed me, put the tattoo world in my hand and it was like wait, I can still be an artist. But it's like welding, but I'm an artist, but I can still travel. But, like, and my mind just blew up and I said I'm still an artist and I can still be emo friends and I can still all my decade of of doing this is still relevant and it can be added on to the tattoos.

Speaker 1:

So now, when I starting the tattoos, it's not like who are you like, why? Why are you here now? Like it's like oh wow, you're actually an artist you actually have fans, you actually have merchandise and t-shirts and you tour and you have everything. You're ready, right, just learn how to tattoo yeah, you just need the technique yeah and and like that like gave me like the life of, just like.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I see a future now. I see a future where I am doing a con in Chicago and then I'm going to the tattoo studio and doing a guest spot, meeting fans there, traveling all over the world doing tattooing yeah, hanging out with it.

Speaker 1:

It really does come down to like who are my people, who are my family, like? If I go into welding'm like all right, cool, these people are very different from me, right. If I go into carpentry, these people are very different from me. Even. I felt like that even in the convention world I feel like the convention people are kind of different from me. Most of them have like daytime jobs, but even then it's more of like the grind, the merchandise, all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1:

And I was getting kind of depressed about products. I was getting depressed about making more and more plastic and more stuff and boxes of toys everywhere. I was like I don't want to make a toy. That seems like wasteful to me. I'd rather tattoo a person. I mean, I throw away a lot of rubber gloves and plastic pieces and stuff, but it's still like all right, I don't need a storage unit for my art. And from there I just felt like a sense of freedom, like I could still be an artist and I could still travel and I could still make money. So I see the future staying consistent with everything that I've done, but just adding a whole new market to it. And these artists that I was hanging out with at the tattoo studio last night, I felt like I belonged with them. I felt like we knew each other our whole lives.

Speaker 1:

So they're real artists and they're taking their business seriously Because there's a lot of artists I know that hate their job, that aren't getting work, that are struggling to sell their art. The tattoo artists are their own boss in most cases and they're making decent money and they're hardworking and they're clean and, you know, respectful. That's the ones I'm meeting, so I just felt like this is my future, this is what I'm doing. I'm going to be an artist and I can still do the cons and I'm going to be great at tattooing and everything that has to do with this depression of the emo friends and all that kind of stuff still carries over. I can now tattoo my art that I've already designed people. I already have my flash sheet. It's like yeah, pick any emo friend, I'll put them right now, right right and so like that just makes me really excited about the future.

Speaker 1:

Uh, for, for my art, so just making sure you know I take care of my hands and my health and my, my heart, and and be ready for what comes next. And it's funny, you know, just talking about the, the therapy of the needle, like the pain of that. That's where it's funny. You know, just talking about the, the therapy of the needle, like the pain of that, that's where it's like whoa, now my art is actually making you cry with with a needle. I saw a girl last night. She came. It was her first tattoo. Oh and uh, she's like I need it somewhere hidden. I'm thinking like right here, like under under, you know, like my shirt.

Speaker 2:

I bet what hurts the most.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and the guy who was doing the tattoo, he used a coil which punches harder, so she comes in. I was like I don't know, do we really want to put a coil on this poor girl's ribs right now? And they're just like go for it. And I saw her out of the whole day. We must have had like I don't know 200 people and she was just like crying, like holding on her boyfriend, just like, and I'm like, oh man, that's crazy, she was like this. And I'm like now oh man, that's crazy, she was like this.

Speaker 2:

And I'm like no, that's super emo, right and people I mean, depending on the generation. We have to remember that the expression of pain takes different forms. Some of us use music art physical. Like crossfitters, they put their body through. Yeah right the same thing, right, they feel like yeah, I almost broke my leg but I did that. Jump Tattooing is also. The beautiful thing about tattooing is that, like you say, it's pain in the real form, no-transcript kind of traumatic experiences you get to pass through it and you get to survive it.

Speaker 2:

But the most important part, you co-regulate with the person that is doing the tattoo, right? The tattoo artist is like it's okay, the uni break. You know, they give you that kind of self-soothing that sometimes a lot of people don't have because they have never been taught how to care for themselves or love themselves. And it's easier to love a character and when you have it in you, then you learn how to love you too so for everybody out there that thinks like, ooh, tattoos it's only for bad people.

Speaker 2:

No, tattoos is a form of art and also a form of expression to continue a communication. Because, to tell you how many times I, literally, when I go to the convention, so anywhere, literally anywhere, uh, and they grab my arm, like like let me see that. And I'm like oh, and I'm like that is amazing. And because I am a therapist, one of the uh spots in my tattoo is a semicolon which means continuing, just take a pause.

Speaker 2:

And a lot of people that has gone through that understand it and they always ask me why do you have that? And I'm like, oh, because I have a lot of patients and et cetera that I have lost or X, Y and Z, and that creates a conversation of healing for them and also for me to give them resources, because you know, especially in the Latino community or any kind of BIPOC community, if we're brown, we don't like to go to therapy. Therapy is like the devil right.

Speaker 2:

So we utilize other things to self-soothe and to take care of ourselves. In your experience, what it will be, I don't know your advice or your experience about either going to therapy with a coach or something to help you with your mental health besides your art.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, sometimes it's almost like the door is just kind of cracked when people see my art and they're like are you OK? And I'm like I am now like I take all my emotional trauma and I just paint it out and here it is for you to see. But I, I'm able to, and so there's a little conversation of mental health there, but I'm not an expert and I'm not selling it and I don't try to be a therapist or anything like that, but there is a way to promote it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, therapy is good. Now, during COVID, I was trapped in a house with a girl that became my ex-girlfriend and that was very traumatic to deal with because I that's for me like relationships are always like the most emo thing in my life, like I haven't. Well, I don't. I have good relationships with friends, like my family, everything's fine, but when it comes to me and girlfriends, it's just like, oh, I'm so terrible at this, but that that kind of thing was like OK, what is therapy? Because I really need it right now. What, what is going on? I'm tired of feeling this way. I'm tired of thinking this way. How do I stop this now? Way, how do I stop this now?

Speaker 1:

So, feeling that like trapped in your mind and in your how you call it like reactions or it's just kind of like reactive, of when you see this person and you're just like where you like become somebody else when you see this person and I'm like I wish I didn't become someone else when I see this person. So I dove into and I don't know if I have adhd. My sister has it, her son has it. I've never been like tested for it, but I look at it and I'm like, hmm, is it possible? I have that? So I researched that and look at all these things and, assuming that I do have it, I was like, okay.

Speaker 1:

So my brain is very analytical and like way to like it's ironic because I'm kind of like not an emotional person when in in the, in the real world, I'm just kind of like dude, relax, like relax, like what's wrong with you? You know, like when people are freaking out, I didn't really ever understand it. But then, as I like was like Wait, wait, do I have ADHD? Do they have ADHD? And also like, well, what's going on in our brain? So I started researching cognitive distortion therapy. I forget the name of the doctor.

Speaker 2:

CBT.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yeah. And I was just going down the list and my brain was like, oh yeah, this is what's happening. It was like head and heart talking to each other. Catch yourself thinking like this, catch yourself feeling like this.

Speaker 1:

So I just got better at that, because I think a lot of us, especially I don't know my advice to mental health is like stop and think about how you feel. Like, why do you feel this way? Did you think about it or are you just letting your feelings do it for you, right? And and I found myself in that position where I get a feeling and I just, ok, let's go there, let's let's get on this feeling, ride all the way into this tree, right? And it's like, wait, wait, wait, this feeling is here. I have to stop and wonder what's going to happen with this feeling, where is this taking me and why is it here again?

Speaker 1:

So I just I spent, you know, the COVID era, just kind of telling my brain that it's just a brain like you are doing things that are just habits. You've created habits in your thinking and in your persona and your feelings and those habits are not good. So, like, how do you undo that? And it's helped, it's helped me a lot and I I do retreat a lot from like, oh well, I don't want to offend anybody or upset people, so I'm just gonna like not go outside ever again, you know, and now I feel like more confidence to actually just be there and be out there in the world. Hey, I, I can handle myself, my emotions, my thoughts, and to me that's like the main main advice is like what is your brain doing to you right now?

Speaker 2:

right, what is controlling you? And I love what you say, like you were, like I just became I say this always to people just become curious why you do what you do. You know. Just become curious, like, if you overthink, what do I overthink? If my feelings take over my control everything, why do I do that? And, like there is colors in the rainbow, there is different types of therapy for different types of things. Right, like, for example, for you, because you wanted to understand more your cognition, cognitive behavior therapy was like chest kiss for you and then when we have a lot, of trauma.

Speaker 2:

We do trauma therapy, emdr, et cetera. But there was one thing that you said, that at your 40s you start thinking I may have attention deficit disorder. And in our society there is this thing that they say, oh, now everybody has attention deficit disorder, now everybody has depression, as I do, x, y and Z. I'm like no, we have had it forever. We just never talk about it, we never understood about it. And there is this thing with people that has certain types of attention deficit disorder that they become more susceptible to take really, really hard rejection, kind of like what you were saying. Like and then you learn to reject yourself because it's easier than being rejected by somebody. So in the notes of the podcast I will put a self-assessment if you want to take it for attention deficit disorder to start a conversation with a professional or with somebody that you trust because no matter the age.

Speaker 2:

It's always nice to know not what's wrong with me, but what happened to me and why life is going like this, because there is nothing wrong with people 's. Just we don't know what is going on. And if we, don't know what's going on. We cannot help, and I adore what you just said.

Speaker 1:

And also, adhd runs in families yeah, that that's uh, that's awesome because, honestly, like when I heard, when I started learning about adhd and seeing like behavior kind of things, I was like, hey, this is kind of a nice little instruction booklet that I can follow of, like oh, if you have this, then this, then this, I'm like okay, let's just assume that I have that, yeah, that I can be aware of.

Speaker 1:

Like, okay, this is what happens here and there and there. So so, when, when I do get into, like, the talking to people about mental health, it does have to do with, like you know, it's like being an X man, you know, you remember the X man. Everybody has, like their super special power. Yes, like like me, I have a special power. Yeah, of course I'm. It's going to cause some faults here and there in different environments, but at least I'm aware of it. Like, oh, hey, this is a perfect opportunity for me to use my ADHD, you know. So it's never for me. It actually became empowering to even consider it instead of just like what's wrong with me.

Speaker 1:

It's like, oh, if it's this, then cool, I'll accept that and see what kind of tools are given to people like that that have it. And it's just everybody can learn something from everybody. And even if you, you have all these, yeah, disabilities or learning disorders, it's like, oh, I'm not the only one, right, right, and that makes it feel normal and you're not a weirdo. It's like, oh good, I'm a weirdo, sweet.

Speaker 2:

But that's the point right, we all are a weirdo which is don't know what kind, but we all are a weirdo which don't know what kind, but we all are one yeah you know, uh, any dependence of the change of our society. Uh, it changed the weirdo acceptance right, like once upon a time if you were a lefty that was a bad thing like, yeah, I'm a lefty me too, but they they.

Speaker 2:

They make me be a right-handed because back the day they didn't let you write with your left, right, left. I write really horrible with my right, but the thing that helped me is I'm very good with piano because I can separate.

Speaker 1:

Oh nice.

Speaker 2:

And all that help what I used to hate. Because I hate it, I was like, oh my god, why they're doing this to me and why this is happening. It become a superpower because I can do two things.

Speaker 2:

I can divide my brain right yeah, and with people that have attention deficit disorder and you should discover that as an adult, you're like, uh, right, and they're like. It gives you some kind of relief, like that's what. It was so hard because it was not meant for me. The, the, the environment was literally against what I, how I learned and what I do, because people with attention deficit disorder are the most amazing artists that you can meet. Um, in different, in different regimens, right, right. Also, when you become obsessed about something, you are the best on it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, Like true yeah.

Speaker 2:

So for anybody out there that has attention deficit disorder or you think you have attention deficit disorder, or you think your loved one or your dad has it or your mom start this conversation Like say, hey, have you ever feel like this? Have you ever done this? And the other thing, if you have a youngster and you think they have it, you can totally use this. Dr roland has it, salvador has it and we have a form of it and it makes it so special and so caring and so loving to others because we know how he feels.

Speaker 2:

So. So instead of asking what's wrong with me, ask what happened to me or what is around me. That is not making sense. So, thank you for that. Thank you for saying because COVID, everybody is when had more access to mental health. But we still have more conversations to do, especially in our communities. But I love that you said find your community in our communities. But I love that you said find your community, find your superpower and find yourself in the darkest times to find the out.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for that.

Speaker 2:

And, as a final thought, what you would like to share with our audience, where we can find you. What is your next big thing that you're going to do? I know now we have to get in line to get to you to have a new tattoo, so that will be amazing. So tell us what you're doing now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for now I'm going through a big change in my life because I've been living in a home in East la for six years, but it's sold and somebody's moving in the owner and uh, we have to leave me and all the housemates, including my ex-girlfriend. We're all moving out at some point, I think in the next, within a month, and uh, but I have all these cons lined up. So, as you, uh, as right after the four and after this interview, I'm basically packing, getting things like together, and it's okay, I'm ready, I've been wanting to get out of here for years, but I didn't know where to go.

Speaker 1:

That was another thing that prompted my like. What am I going to do? Because I've been paying cheap rent and I'm like once I'm out of here.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to have any more money, I'm just. I've been living like doing cons and then just vacationing Like I'm comfortable. I was too comfortable. So now it's like and now I figured out, oh, tattoo. So I feel a little bit of relief that I can like post up with my parents out in, uh, this is the antelope valley, lancaster. That's where I grew up, that's where the tattoo shop I was at last night, all day I mean, but I'm gonna go out there. And then I've got like new york comic con. I've got la comic con. I've got salt lake city. I've got one in ontario next weekend. I've got one in Burbank in December. I thought about doing designer con in Vegas. I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing. Really. In November I think I'm house sitting in LA, things like that I'm I'm just going to be kind of all over the place. So I, because I won't have a crazy rent to pay, my parents are luckily they haven't kicked me out of the house, so they uh I'm able to just get Airbnbs and hotels and travel wherever I need to.

Speaker 1:

I want to go to Asia. I love going to Thailand and Vietnam and Japan, and I have friends all over those places and I want to. Of all the years I've been going there, I'm just like this is cool, but nobody, I didn't do anything. I just ate and rode motorcycles and go to the beach. And now I'm like, okay, I'm coming back, but I want to do tattooing. I want to learn tattooing, like what's going on out here, so that's like a whole new side of the travel world that I'd never really tapped into. And I barely started doing it this year when I was like I was up in Washington. I'm like I'm gonna go see a tattoo studio and see what they're doing over there.

Speaker 1:

It's like poking my head around like, hey, cool tattoo, you guys are cool. I had always this stigma of you know tattoos being either like white supremacists or mexican gang members.

Speaker 1:

You know like, that's all I ever thought it was right, right right so nowadays, it's like kids and young people and and all sorts of genders and age groups and art styles and I'm like, wow, these people are actually cool and they're artists, yeah, so, um, that that's what I'm going into next. So big changes and keeping the art alive, keeping the tattoo alive, but wear is just going to be wear.

Speaker 2:

TBD, yeah, tbd, if people want to get your art, because it sounds like now your pieces are going to be super exclusive, because there is not going to be more of those unless you want it in your skin. So, where they can go and buy some of your art. Yeah, friends and whatnot.

Speaker 1:

Where I can go and buy some of your art. Yeah, Just Google or Bing or whatever search engine. Super emo friends I'm wearing my super emo Supreme shirt, but super emo friends and everybody loves the name, so I'm happy that that's a. That's a good name and it'll just go to my website, It'll. You can just hit image search and you can see vast number of paintings, Some of them I even forgot I painted. People will always send me like look, I still have this painting you did for me and I'm just like wow, when did I paint that?

Speaker 1:

I forgot about that one, so. And then there's like articles, there's more interviews, but if you want some art, the website has that. I've been working on my website better you can. There's you can buy original paintings on my Etsy store. You can go to a t-shirt site. We can order whatever t-shirts that haven't been pulled down by lawyers. You can buy art from my website enamel pins and, uh, I haven't added my tour dates, but if you follow my instagram, I I need to make a post today, actually about the emo tour, about what I'm gonna be, um, but yeah, that's, that's the rest of the year. I plan to be traveling asia between, like between december and march and uh, so I won't be able to sell anything at that time, but when I get back, I'll fulfill orders. But, yeah, just place orders. I have emo friends in an office right now so I can live anywhere and just come back to the office whenever I need to. Right, that was another main anxiety is like where do I put emo friends if I'm going to move into a studio.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

That doesn't have room for me and emo friends. So yeah, superemofriendscom.

Speaker 2:

Nice, nice, so you hear it. You get to buy your emo friends before the end of November or you will not get it until March. Yeah, so go ahead, do it now.

Speaker 1:

They're great gifts. I would say like 70% of the art is for someone else, so it's okay to be selfish, though. So I give gifts to everybody with that. Yes, yes, yeah, the same. I always recommending your art.

Speaker 2:

I was like no, that yes, yes, yeah, the same. I always recommending your art. I was like no, you need to buy it. I have so many of those pieces in my office, in my clinic and, of course, my home. And the other thing I want everybody to remember please support your local artists, because Keep us doing it.

Speaker 1:

Yes, don't let us go get j jobs.

Speaker 2:

yes, don't, don't. Let us go back to the drone life but, because when you suppress artists, you suppress art, and when you suppress art and artists, you suppress mental health too, because it's an outlet for a lot of people. So, salvador, thank you for everything that you do for all of us.

Speaker 1:

We are fans. Thank you for being a fan.

Speaker 2:

Of course, and I probably will see you in LA con because I have, like I don't know, like seven panels I'm presenting.

Speaker 1:

So I will see you.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I will see you then.

Speaker 1:

Awesome Sweet, um, yeah, I wish I could go to it, but I have to work.

Speaker 2:

I miss all the panels.

Speaker 1:

I don't get to do any panels.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, it's the same backwards right. Because I do so many panels, I don't get to go and explore the floor as much as I used to, so it's almost like the same, but I will try to do and at least say hi to you and for all our fans.

Speaker 2:

I will put all the notes in the footnotes and also all our Instagrams and stuff where you can find us. So please, please, please. If you're a fan of the Oasis community, please support our local artists. If it's not Salvador, it can be another person that you love, but local artists and always make sure that that Support my friends too. Support your friends and also make sure that it's original art, Because unfortunately there's a lot of copy of the copy of the copy right.

Speaker 1:

And AI and AI.

Speaker 2:

That will be another conversation that we will have, probably next year about the AI and stuff like that. But, Salvador, thank you so very much. And, as always for my community, grab a cup of coffee, tea or your warm beverage and have that warm, fuzzy feeling that we are all together in this community.

Speaker 1:

We're all here, still All right. Thank you so much again, doctor, it was great to see you Take care everybody. Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2:

It was great to see you Take care everybody. Thank you.

Speaker 2:

As we conclude today's episode, take a moment to reflect. Be proud of the journey, for every step that brings you closer to who you truly are. Embrace the kindness towards yourself, as you did to each one of our guests. Honor the bravery in your actions and celebrate the importance of mental wellness with us. And remember it's an exercise that we practice daily. Continue to grow and flourish, knowing that we are in this training for our mental wellness together. We are so proud to have you as part of our community, so join us on Instagram at Oasis Community Podcast for more inspiring conversations, valuable resources and supported content, including journals, worksheets and content in Spanish. Exciting things are in the horizon. Our Oasis community break rooms are coming soon to grab tools and take a break for your mental health. Also, we are featuring our six-month training ethical mental health coaching program designed for new and experienced coaches, as well as holistic and healing professionals. Enroll to create a safe and transformative experience to your clients. Links in the bio. Until next time, take care, stay connected and welcome to our Oasis community.