Leaky Buckets

  The tiny house and main house near completion         This is the written version of the story I revisit every time I am struggling with doubt and self worth. When I am lost in a spiral, I know that this is the true story of my successes and even when I am unmoored, it still manages to bring me back to shore. As I write this, I am not boasting. This is just an abridged tale of the last five years of my life and it is still the longest post by far. I’ll begin with the slogan written on the wall of our house that says “you will overestimate what you can do in one year and underestimate what you can achieve in five years.” Five years ago yesterday was my first night spent here in the town of Philipsburg, Montana, in a tiny camper parked on a neighbor’s empty lot with no electricity or heat; just my sleeping bag, head lamp and my dream of building my own house. Now I am sitting at the kitchen table in a completed house that I built with my own two hands and is owned outright with no mo