A Spoon is a unit of energy commonly used by people dealing with chronic illness. Below is an example of how spoons are used in day to day life. It's not an exhaustive list by any means, but it's a good starting point to figure out your own energy use.
So why am I talking about spoons today? Well, having chronic pain, physical disability, and mental illness uses a lot of spoons. So many, that other things often have to go by the wayside. As much as I love writing this blog, and hate to see how long passes between posts, I simply run out of spoons too often to manage it. So this is both an apology for lack of posts, and an explanation.Let's say I start the day with 20 spoons. Before I get to work, 3 are gone. During the course of the working day, another 15 are gone. Now I have only 2 spoons left to cover everything I might want to do in the evening. A meal out or a trip to the cinema puts me into the minus spoons.
Every day, I am using more spoons then I have, and so by the weekend, there's a massive imbalance to correct. Having the energy to write, to see friends, to even get out of bed, can become impossible.
This is the situation faced by people world over. Struggling to get by, having to choose between doing something they would enjoy, that will wipe them out for the rest of the week, or staying home and playing it safe.
Recently I started seeing a great therapist. We talked about my lack of energy, and how I can recharge. We agreed that it's perfectly OK to put time aside just for sleep. So now every weekend, I'm putting aside a sleep day, where I make no plans at all, and allow myself the time and space to just stay in bed and recharge.
Staying in bed all day has a lot of negative annotations. It's the kind of activity that brings out negative comments. The act of sleep is seen as lazy, wasteful, even bad for your health.
Well f**k all of that. I'm going to do what's right for me. Now fluff my pillows, it's time for bed.
Lisa x
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