Terminology Tuesday: what is a spoonie?

I had an opportunity to Skype with Rohan, who created the app Buddhify, last week. We were talking about how helpful meditation is and he was getting my take on it as a chronically ill chick for his upcoming book, This Is Happening.

First on his list of questions was what in the world is a spoonie?

If you don’t know what it is, I highly recommend reading The Spoon Theory by Christine Miserando of But You Don’t Look Sick. Here’s the quick version though…

Spoons are a way to measure the finite and sometimes changing energy it takes to do things. Sometimes just being awake eats up your spoons and other times you can work out hard or nap and gain spoons.

People with chronic illness identify with this for many reasons – Christine herself is a lupus fighter. This theory helps to explain how different fatigue stealing energy is than just normal people getting tired at the same time every night. That isn’t to say that things don’t fluctuate for normal people but, to be honest, it’s a whole different ballgame. Y’all are playing T-ball compared to the murder/death/scary-words ball we got going on.

My brain fog couldn’t think of a great phrase. Hooray!

I see a lot of people ask blogs and health activists if their illness counts to make them a spoonie. Sometimes people get really negative reactions. Guess what? If you have a chronic illness, whether physical or mental, you are a spoonie. Get you some!

Hey – this week I’m documenting how much energy (or spoons) daily tasks take me. Come join in on Facebook!

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