“Spoonies” is a nickname people who live with chronic illness sometimes use to identify themselves. The term originated in 2003 in a post on writer Christine Miserandino’s blog “But You Don’t Look Sick.” In “The Spoon Theory,” Miserandino used spoons as a way to explain how she has to budget her energy levels to carry out daily tasks.
The Mighty teamed up with the Counting My Spoons Facebook page to ask our readers who consider themselves Spoonies to fill in the blank in the following statement.
“You know you’re a Spoonie if ___.”
This is what they had to say.
1. “You wake up early in the morning just so you have extra time to give yourself enough pep talks to get out of bed and get moving.” — Christine Langager
2. “Your friends want the school day to end so they can hang out and play games, but you want it to end so you can go home and sleep.” — Melanie Atzili
3. “Your pill box is bigger than your lunch box.” — Linda Boyce
4. “You aspire to do five things on your to-do list and you only get one thing done.” — Canna Yamamoto
5. “You budget your energy to take a shower.” — Vicki Blank
6. “You’re slowly getting your favorite books in audio versions too. Nothing is going to stop me from enjoying books, hand spasms/claw hands or not.” — Claire Elisabeth Flower
7. “Your hair hurts.” — Jackie M. Williams
8. “You pick one significant activity to do on the weekends and plan everything else around your rest time.” — Jennifer McCollum
9. “You have more pajamas in your wardrobe than regular clothes.” — Melissa Cote
10. “You rest up for a week to go see a movie (fibro can’t stop a ‘Star Wars’ fan!)” — Jo Roberts
11. “You have to plan ‘extreme rest days’ in between days of activities.” — Karlien Crom
12. “Your supplement drawer looks like a Tetris game (for that matter, your supplements require their own drawer).” — Julie Ryan
13. “Your first response to the person helping you get up is ‘five more minutes please’ every day.” — Bee Maizell
14. “You have to choose between taking a shower or cooking dinner to preserve spoons.” — Hannah Waldron
15. “You just can’t bring yourself to explain even one more time why ‘getting to lay around’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” — Elizabeth Rischar
*Some answers have been edited for clarity and length.
How would you fill in the blank to “You know you’re a Spoonie if ___.” Let us know in the comments below.
Melissa McGlensey is the former News Editor at The Mighty. Her writing can also be seen in Ms. Magazine, on the Ms.Magazine blog and in The Huffington Post’s Good News, Comedy and Impact sections. Melissa is also a New York City comedian who does sketch, improv and stand up. She is passionate about social justice, politics, Thai food, literature, disability rights and more. She is currently in a long-distance relationship with her cat, Sneakers, who lives in California. You can follow her on twitter at @OhHeyMeliss.
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