
Have You Heard Of The Spoon Theory?
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The Spoon theory was first created in 2003 by Christine Miserandino, an award winning writer and lupus patient and advocate, when she was enjoying a night with a friend and the friend asked her what it felt like to be sick. She used the spoons she could grab from her table and other tables around and explained that living with a chronic illness you have a limited ration of energy and things that a healthy person may not even think about, a chronically ill person has to carefully think about how they use all of their ‘spoons’ so they don’t run out.
The spoon theory has since been used by all people living with a multitude of chronic illness or neurodivergence to help teach individual differences of how energy works.
For example I live with Multiple Sclerosis so if I start my day with 12 spoons the simple day to day things like getting up getting dressed, brushing my teeth, hair, washing and leaving the house that is already half my spoons gone, then i have to decide what is more important to do for the rest of the day. Things like cooking, bathing, working and socializing, even walking my dogs cost multiple spoons so I for sure can't do it all. I have to choose. However living with MS no two days are the same so sometimes things are less or more spooneriffic!
But for someone who is Autistic living in a neurotypical world they will find other things higher in spoons than me, and the same for someone in chronic pain or depression. The scope for the use of the spoon theory really is endless.
My customers and myself seem to resonate with the spoon theory and so a few designs were created. Not enough spoons to give a fork and Never enough spoons. The ‘Never Enough Spoons’ was actually created especially for a specific customer as a gift and I just loved it so
it became a core design and the ‘Not Enough Spoons To Give A Fork’ well if you know me by now you will know that I just love a play on words (especially a swear word)
If you want to read more about Christine Miserandino and the spoon theory she created you can find her at www.butyoudontlooksick.com
Thank you for reading my take on the Spoon Theory!
Tell me how you use your spoons!
Sam x
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