Spoon Theory (Miserandino)

What’s Spoon Theory?

“The Spoon Theory”, a personal story by Christine Miserandino, is
popular among many people dealing with chronic illness.
It describes perfectly this idea of limited energy, using
“spoons” as a of energy.


Miserandino lives with lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease which causes an
immune system to attack the body’s healthy cells. One day, Miserandino writes,
her friend wanted to understand better the realities of living with a chronic illness.


“As I tried to gain my composure, I glanced around the table for help or guidance,
or at least stall for time to think. I was trying to find the right words.
How do I answer a question I never was able to answer for myself?
Miserandino writes.
“How do I explain every detail of every day being affected, and give the emotions
a sick person goes through with clarity. I could have given up, cracked a joke like
I usually do, and changed the subject, but I remember thinking if I don’t try to
explain this, how could I ever expect her to understand.
If I can’t explain this to my best friend, how could I explain my world to
anyone else? I had to at least try.”

Sitting in a café, Miserandino goes on to explain how she gathered spoons and used
them to represent finite units of energy. Energy, for many of us with chronic illness,
is limited and depends on many factors including stress levels, how we’re sleeping,
and pain. Miserandino then walked her friend through the friend’s normal day,
taking spoons, or energy, away from the friend as the discussion went on.


By the end of the day, her friend wasn’t able to do as much
as she wanted. When she realized Miserandino went through this every single day,
her friend started crying. She understood, then, how precious time was for people
like Miserandino, and how few “spoons” she had the luxury of spending.