It’s been 2 weeks since my last blog and your ladies have been busy! LuLu was in dire need of a refresher and now she’s feeling better than ever! I can’t say that I’ve made leaps and bounds in renovations and improvements as I’ve been focusing more on finishing than starting. I can confidently say, however, that I have made leaps and bounds on something that I haven’t really talked about much – perseverance.
There are many things we talk about in when we’re celebrating the excitement of living nomadically and there are just as many when we’re discussing its pitfalls. Perseverance, while rarely named, is a strong candidate for MVP. I’m proud of myself for the wins that I’ve had recently – they proved to me that I can persevere – and that’s something I’ve not always been the best at. So what exactly did I do to learn such valuable lessons? I’ll tell you!
When LuLu returned from the mechanic, not one, not two, but three curtain rod strips had fallen down. Two of them were glued and nailed; the third was glued. This was discouraging, to say the least. Putting them in place was frustrating – the entire ceiling was – so to have to do it again and figure out how to make them stay was enough to make me just ignore them. That’s not all! The headliner (which I was so nervous about putting up) also failed on both the front and the back. It’s hanging on by a thread right now and even the padding above it started to fall off. It’s almost as if the universe wanted to remind me that I’m really not as good at things as I’d like to think!
That’s not including the damage the fire caused. After inspecting the ceiling closer, some of the blocks serving as support beams came unglued. When the support beams come unglued, it causes the ceiling to sag. So I’m down a curtain and I have a saggy ceiling. Things just weren’t feeling fair.
Of course, there’s also the things to address that I simply hadn’t finished. The engine platform wobbled when you put weight on the bed loft. The loft, itself, liked to fold. The legs wobbled. The taillights had been taken out when we were working on the electrical components and were waiting to be replaced. I had replaced the seal for the rear hatch years ago but it never wanted to stay in place.
In other words…there have been lots of things I’ve needed to readdress and just as many that I’ve been procrastinating.
I won’t lie. It took me a while to get over. That has been preventing me from getting started, but I finally overcame that and got to it. It’s discouraging when you put so much work into something, only for it to not work. Little by little, though, I came up with a plan and the pieces started falling into place. I found some latches to review so that inspired me to start. If I’m ever going to move into LuLu, I need a bed (and one that isn’t going to flop every time I roll over – I’m a light sleeper!). Putting the latches on inspired me to find a way to lock the legs. Finally finishing the bed loft gave me the motivation to fix the platform and it was such an easy fix, too!
I finally mostly finishing the top of the engine bay. The padding has been Velcroed down and I added rubber to the threshold (see below). I must say that I think it looks pretty nice! While I was gluing down the rubber, I also decided to clean the tract the hatch seal sits in and glue the rubber in place.
If that wasn’t enough, I also found some adhesive and nails that will work better than what I originally used. I’ve glued and clamped the remainder of the curtain rod strips. As I’m writing this, the last one is clamped and curing and tomorrow I’ll hammer the final nails in it. I need a different adhesive for the blocks that have fallen, but that and some cleaning is all the remains.
Attaching the counter top to the hinges also made a world of difference. I still can’t seem to find the support arm but I know its here somewhere!
The Lesson
Each and every one of those things had already been “done”. Whether its truly done and they broke, or they were functional but had their own unfinished parts, they were still done. I still had to revisit them. That’s where I learned the perseverance. I had to sit with the feeling that it wasn’t good enough the first time. Then, I had to make the choice to do it again and make it better. Or at least hopefully! I’ve given myself the grace from Day 1 to step away from this project if I no longer gain joy from it. There have been a few times I’ve felt that was and this has been one of them. But guess what? My perseverance showed me that I could keep going. It showed me that even if things aren’t perfect, they are still beautiful and functional and useful and valuable. That’s a lesson I will always need, no matter how many times I learn it.
Take it from me – when things get hard, ugly, challenging – keep going. Keep trying. Keep working at it. If its something that you truly enjoy and want to succeed at – persevere. Van life isn’t easy, but the rewards and vast and often unexpected!
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