Soooo, today has been an intensely rainy day. My shelter is leaking a lot and with almost no sunlight I had barely any energy on my solar panels to charge up my electric devices. I think I have to force myself into a second wind of building activity, forget about the whole "stay put through the cold seasons". It depresses me to see this scenario which drains my energies big time. I feel like I just have to close my eyes and meditate through it all, but at the same time I can't just sit and wait for everything to start rotting.
At least I did something good. I found a large plastic lying around the swamp and hauled it a fair distance to the shelter. When I got there the downpour was heavy but I decided to get on the roof anyway and place it to help lower the intensity of the leaks. While I was placing the plastic I felt very empowered, and not such a victim of the weather anymore. It was like my inner warrior was burning with courage once more, ready to give it his all for the sake of the mission.
I thought it would be nice to record a video of the moment but, surprise! Low battery once more (any tips on what cellphone I should get with a decent camera, good battery, and not so high price is welcome). It would have been nice to show that moment of what building in the forest has meant to me, but usually these kind of moments just don't get to be shown to the public. People get to see the end results, when all is calm and the storm has been gone through, but rarely do we see the struggle, the really tough moments those who fight to fulfill their dreams world go through.
I'm not trying to make it seem like I'm this poor little fellow who goes through these hardships because life has given him no choice. The moment was epic and beautiful. To feel the rain on full force hitting my head and slipping through my face. I thought about all the people who have pronounced words of fear, telling me that my dreams are naive, that Life is already a certain way and that we can't do anything about it. And I felt free from them, from their fear, from their petty words filled with conformism and "play it safe" attitude.
Courage is such a warm, satisfying emotion. There are few things like it. To feel courage is a way of ecstasy to me. Doubt disappears. Strength becomes effortless. Anxiety becomes insignificant.
Unfortunately all I have to show for myself is this picture of the plastic I took, and the other stuff I found in the swamp. Anyway, I'm guessing there will be more heavy rains and even snow, so perhaps one of these days I'll have enough battery for some epic videos or at least some photos.
Stay brave, fight for your dreams.
my suggestion is to get 1 or 2 "usb power bricks" then you can charge them when you get good sunlight and have them on the side for a day like the one you mentioned. if you aren't getting enough energy to last you, that seems like a good backup plan to me. i tried buying a cheap usb power brick with a built in solar panel on ebay, but it was pretty much junk, not being able to charge fully after 2 weeks in the sun. a nicer version[with a/c power] that could be useful is something like this jackery powerbar https://www.ebay.com/itm/393293603099?epid=8018390903&hash=item5b9220211b:g:mQwAAOSwCppfR74W#UserReviews i dont have this product, but i have the jackery 160,(about double the cost) which has a/c and two usb outputs(i probably would have bought this cheaper product if i knew about it since i just wanted for camping/DJing at the beach/emergencies) anyway, this works great with the usb powered string fairy led lights i bought, could definitely power it for days on a charge.
im glad you got a better piece of roof, keeping the water out/ minimizing it has got to be very important!...especially as it gets colder!
wow, i was just double checking my geography, and i really hope you are closer to the north, because it looks like southern chile is about as far from the equator as i am on in the US/Canada border and we get some snowy cold winters that i certainly couldnt camp through!
I have a couple of power bricks, but they were charging up at the moment. The problem is I have an old iPhone given to me by my sister and the battery lasts barely an hour when using it. If I want to start making videos I’m going to need a phone with a proper battery I suppose.
The power bank you recommended seems pretty good though for storing energy on sunny days though! Will definitely consider it so thanks for the tip.
I live in southern Chile, region of Aysen, so yeah, it will snow for sure. I have faith I’ll pull through though. If I can’t manage I have places to go, so no big deal I suppose. But I would really like to overcome the challenge and begin spring with all that inner discipline on fire 🔥
I have had a few moments when I have been out in the elements like that, one that springs to mind, is when I was just gone 9 months pregnant with my second daughter and I woke at 5 a.m to really strong wind that had almost flatten my wind barrier onto my bell tent( the tent I planted to birth in). So out I went with my ex, the wind was so strong and then the rain started and we struggled for a good 20 mins to get everything fixed. I felt so alive in those moments and very empowered afterwards, if a little tired too.
It is so normal to feel disheartened at times, but wow the feeling of content that comes with sorting out your own life, well that is priceless my friend. Sending you warm hugs xxxx
Funny you came to my mind when I wrote this. I honor your bravery to push through those moments and the courage of following your inner truth. Big hug for you and your loved ones as well 💚