How to explain deep emotional art to a 7 year old

[megamania]

Today I was cleaning my hobby room and found my 6x4ft painting I did in college. It is a collage of pop culture items that related to the time line of my life. There were many dark periods within it and I drew/painted these in based on color and books / comics I have read.

How do you explain to a questioning 7yr old why you painted a cover of a spiderman book where he is crawling out of a grave and a copy of it but with yourself crawling out? Next to it is a painting of me done in black and dark grey with words of suicide, depression and hatred.

He understands more than I thought and wanted to know why I was sad. Its crazy.
Its just a matter of time before he looks at the rest of it or finds my smaller versions I did.

I may have to show him the rest of it to show the happier sides of me. I don't want him growing up with the self-hatred I had.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

A child raised by continually loving and caring parents/individuals grows up to be a fine person. Definetely, you should. Open his eyes to the realism that not everybody is out to get you and you will show the path to enlightenment.

 

[megamania]

Its what I started to go into with him. Just seems odd to discuss with him.

Other recoginiziable items there are beer cans, Self portraits where I have no face, various book titles involving aliens and the end of the world the Daredevil book "Born Again" which followed up the spider-man cover since I felt I was torn down to my core and had to rebuild myself from scratch.

Morbid and cynical but made of thicker skin.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Wow. I have a black spot in my past, and it went to gray and finally back to white. Sounds like you 've had it rougher. Sounds to me like hope was within your grasp though, you just chose to to grab it until later. I didn't have that I had to actually hit the reset switch in my mind. It took a long while though to get the button pressed. Life is certainly about choices. One has to choose to be a certain way when responding to a situation/event. I think it is qyuite common for teens to be more impressionable as they are trying to find a way to fit in. The only person that can you feel good about yourself is you. If I would have learned that early on, I'd have graduated from college by now and have a wife and family of my own and be happy with everything. Sometimes though when you learn something for yourself and can tell others what happened, you feel better about yourself (feels like taking a load off) and can teach them your mistake. 50% of people that hear about such things are likely not to do the same. I think.

 

[megamania]

This painting was part of my self theropy. Thus the awkwardness of it.

 

[megamania]

hummmm....I did thsi when I was about 20 years old. I'm 36 now. Maybe it's time to stretch a new canvas and do anything painting..... Show the changes and better things in life I know and experience now...

 

[Thunderfoot]

If you don't mind me waxing philosophical and becoming your therapist for a bit..

Tell him the truth, that you thought life was cruddy and that it wasn't what you thought it should be, but that you made it through by painting your feelings and that helped you. You don't have to get too deep, and unless he asks more questions, leave it at that. But remember the conversation, because when he reaches that tender age of ick...(we all did) you'll be able to tell him and show him that regardless of how bad it is that he is feeling and how hopeless that the future may seem, to hang on; you did and now you have one of your greatest treasures to show for it, him. If you had choosen the path of least resistance (ie death) then you would have missed out on all the neat things being a parent has brought you and that he needs to think beyond the now into the what may be so that he too can experience some really neat things. I've had similar talks with my son (who is now 16 and an extremely moody teenager) so I can undersand what you went through (as a teen) and probably what he's going to go through (because my son is just like me in that respect - moody and broody) so the probability that your son will go through a dark time is pretty solid.

Or to be a little more folksy, like beans, this too shall pass.

 

[I'm A Banana]

"If you spend enough time with anything you love, son, someday it will make you very sad. What makes you strong is making sure that sadness doesn't overwhelm your love."

That's probably not very helpful, but it was my first suggestion..

 

[megamania]

Good or bad he has already decided to ignore my masterpiece and continue to beg to play Over Power or Yugi with him.

Parenting can be so complex at times. I don't have a good grip on myself- how to teach others about life.... thankyou for answers and comments.