First fruit

Today was a lovely day. It was overcast and didn't make for the best painting light, but I met a friend out and painted anyway for the first time plein air this season. Although I haven't photographed the works yet, I did two 5x7s of the scenes below. It was so relaxing. And it was great to catch up with my painting friend, whose had an even worse time of life that I have recently. She's in a great place now, though, and sounds wonderful.

Another reason it was so relaxing was the meeting I had beforehand. It was with a mother, Emily, who didn't like the service her son had received from the EEG PhD flake I have (but I get for free; she'd paid $4K), so she bought her own equipment and got formally trained. There is a whole group of people who meet monthly and the basis of them forming this group was them not appreciating the work of this PhD. It feels great to have such validation.

When I mentioned my meeting plans to my therapist yesterday, she was aghast at a group forming out of backlash, yet she was redeemed. She'd trusted my eval, but this reinforces it. In talking more, she revealed that in the past she'd wanted to include EEG as part of her work with children and ADHD, but didn't feel like she had the capacity to understand the nuances. Now she's encouraging me to take out a loan and do it freelance for her.

A girl can dream, huh? I would like to be better enough to feel like I could follow through and do a good job. That would take purchasing the equipment and working on myself somemore, first, to develop my confidence and focus. Emily said the group provides complete support, so I could take it as far as I want and do/don't pursue formal training accordlingly. They'd help me just to continue to do Alpha Theta Training and to incorporate a protocol for my ADD son. Or they'd help me out with the training angle and provide more complex support. There's a multi-day session in this area in a few months. Very convenient. What a find!