September has a funny way of reminding us that change is happening all around us. The
butterflies are becoming fewer, the flowers are beginning to fade, and the air
is—blissfully—starting to chill out.
This perimenopause lady is grateful for the cooler weather. Grin.
The days have begun to shift. Schedules settle into new rhythms. We start thinking a little more
about what we need, what we’ve been putting off, and where we might want a little more care,
connection, or ease.
Around That’s the Rub, there are plenty of ways to find some of that this month.
Our facials are back, with Maya and Ryn offering relaxing, customized experiences designed
around what your skin—and the rest of you—needs that day. If your idea of self-care includes
warm towels, soothing touch, refreshed skin, and a chance to simply be still for a while, this may
be exactly the invitation you’ve been waiting for.
You can even schedule a facial and a massage and make it a spa day. We have robes and tea for
just such an occasion.
We also have some great massage openings throughout the week.
Tuesdays are a wonderful opportunity to get on the schedule with Mike or Chris. Wednesdays
bring some usually harder-to-find openings with Kevin or Terence, and Thursdays you may find
time available with Mack or Noemi.
If you’ve been saying, “I really need to schedule a massage,” consider this your gentle reminder.
And while we’re talking about connection, I’d love to invite you into another part of my world.
If you missed Bloomington’s First Friday Gallery Walk, my show, Articles of Connection:
Between Shadow and Light, is still hanging at Gather through September 29.
Seeing the collection together is part of the experience. Each piece explores connection in a
different way—the connection between body and emotion, between one experience and the next,
between what we know about ourselves and what we are only beginning to notice.
When I stood back and looked at the collection as a whole, even I was moved by what I saw. I
had never seen the pieces hung together before.
The work spans multiple series painted over the course of two years, yet somehow they all speak
to each other. Together, they tell the story of my life in ways I didn’t fully see until they were all
in the same room.
I found myself making new connections between their stories, seeing familiar pieces with fresh
eyes.
If you enjoy art, story, and noticing the connections that exist all around us, I think there is
something there for you too.
If you have a chance, stop in and spend some time with the collection before the show comes
down at the end of September. I would love to hear about your experience.
And if looking at art makes you wonder what might happen if you picked up the paintbrush
yourself, there’s an opportunity for that too.
My next Wellbeing Through Art 5-Week Journey begins Sunday, October 4. Register here:
www.lisakeplingerwellbeing.com
We’ll meet Sundays from 3–5 PM through November 1. You can participate in person—which is
my favorite way to experience this work—or join us online.
No art experience is necessary…really.
You don’t need to know how to paint. You don’t need to consider yourself creative. And you
definitely don’t need to make something pretty.
We use art as a way to slow down, notice what’s happening inside us, work with places where we
may feel stuck, see ourselves from a different perspective, and sometimes discover that throwing
paint onto a canvas is simply ridiculously fun.
All supplies are provided for in-person participants, and the groups are intentionally kept small
so there is room for each person and whatever shows up along the way.
Maybe that is the thread running through all of these things.
Massage. Facials. Art. Community. It’s what That’s the Rub has always been about.
Different ways of coming back into relationship with ourselves and with each other.
Because healing, joy, curiosity, and sometimes a whole lot of laughter can happen when we give
ourselves space to slow down and connect. And I don’t know about you, but I need a whole lot
of that right now.
Connection, as I’ve been learning again and again, changes things.
That’s the Rub,
Lisa
