Yesterday we attached the fascia boards and today we completed the last of the roof and wall flashing details in preparation for attaching the porch roof, hopefully tomorrow.
The biggest challenge of this whole build is something I don’t talk about much on social media, and that is that we’re doing it while I’m simultaneously fighting a severe undiagnosed chronic illness that only lets me do light work for about 5 hours before I have to stop and wait about 24 hours for my body to recover. In recent years I’ve managed to stay productive with my business by cancelling all extracurricular activities and moving my bed, my kitchen, and my workshop within 30 feet of each other. As tiny house builders Liz does most of the heavy work while I plan the next steps and manage our social media.
This week is especially hard because there is no light work in building a deck and it’s been intensely frustrating to build for a half day then suffer for 2 days before we can get started again.
Having an undiagnosed illness is such a strange, difficult experience. When someone has a back injury or cancer, I think we all have some idea what that means, but when you have an undiagnosed illness that not only weakens your body but also dramatically changes your brain function we don’t really have a cultural template for how to deal with that. I find myself at a loss for how much to share and sometimes find it weird that the biggest part of my life is the part that is seen the least.
I’ve always been a strong believer in authenticity and vulnerability, but practical experience has taught me that people get pretty uncomfortable when you start talking about the devastating reality of severe chronic illness. I also just question the point of sharing at all. In my case it’s not to get support, I’m far too sick to meaningfully interact with other people. I guess maybe it’s more just about being seen. So this is me being real for a moment: tiny house builder, but also fighting a brutal battle against chronic illness.
– Brian
Having an undiagnosed illness is such a strange, difficult experience. When someone has a back injury or cancer, I think we all have some idea what that means, but when you have an undiagnosed illness that not only weakens your body but also dramatically changes your brain function we don’t really have a cultural template for how to deal with that. I find myself at a loss for how much to share and sometimes find it weird that the biggest part of my life is the part that is seen the least.
I’ve always been a strong believer in authenticity and vulnerability, but practical experience has taught me that people get pretty uncomfortable when you start talking about the devastating reality of severe chronic illness. I also just question the point of sharing at all. In my case it’s not to get support, I’m far too sick to meaningfully interact with other people. I guess maybe it’s more just about being seen. So this is me being real for a moment: tiny house builder, but also fighting a brutal battle against chronic illness.
– Brian
