Hello! Welcome to the You Can DIY Blog. My name is Ashley. I am an avid hobbyist. I love to watercolor, be in nature, cook, etc… But the hobby that has made me feel the most alive is DIY projects. I started really pursuing DIY after the birth of my second child. Motherhood has always been important to me. My kids and husband mean more to me than anything. But I quickly learned that I needed something to fill my cup, as motherhood often drains it. My time working on projects become my own version of “self-love”. Learning how to build things on my own gave me a new sense of confidence and excitement I hadn’t felt before. It was addicting.
How Renovating a Camper Trailer Changed My Brain Chemistry
Last year I took one of my biggest “DIY leaps” and I bought a 1971 camper trailer (visit here for a full post about my camper trailer remodel). A camper trailer renovation was a big undertaking for a beginner DIY-er. There were several (and when I say several I mean approximately 685,235,982) moments during my camper trailer renovation where I would hit a wall (not literally, although I did that too… but we’re speaking metaphorically here). I would sit down in the trailer surrounded by a mess of insulation, plywood, and screws and think to myself “How in the world am I going to solve this?”.
I would take a few minutes to sit and think. Sometimes I would get up and work, and sometimes I would go back to my house and call it a day. Then the next day I would get back out there and break through that wall. Somehow, some way I would solve the problem in front of me.
I experienced this over and over and over: Hit a wall. Get discouraged. Pause to think. Get back at it. Break through that wall and move on to the next. As I continued to experience this I realized a shift in my thinking patterns. My mind became more resilient.
When I would face a challenge in my camper trailer renovation, my thoughts would go to a confident place knowing that it might take a little time and thinking, but eventually, I would figure it out.
While this lesson is in the context of renovating a camper trailer, I have learned to apply it to everyday life. There is no mountain we can’t climb. Some may be a little taller or more difficult than we want. And some may take a lot longer than we expect. But if we keep putting one foot in front of the other we’re going to make it to the other side.
As you might be able to tell, DIY is much more than just a hobby for me. It is something that has truly changed who I am. This camper trailer renovation, and dozens of other DIY projects, have empowered me and helped me grow in ways I didn’t know I needed.
My true hope is that this blog will give you the confidence to put one foot in front of the other, try something new, challenge yourself; and help you realize that if I can do it myself, You Can Do It Yourself too.
If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to me at [email protected].
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