I listened to that video and I wish my ex husband had listened to that. He used to yell because he had to do the housework at times. What a plonka. Off ya go! ❤️💕

If the concept of spoons being an illustration as units of energy doesn't feel intuitive to you, there are others.

One is the idea of a battery.
When I wake up, I haven't had my battery recharge overnight as well as someone without a chronic illness, for example. I use up more of the charge that I have on doing simple seeming things such as getting out of bed and making a cup of tea... leaving me with less and less charge.

I hope that helps. :)

I think it might be helpful to keep in mind that Christine Miserandino wasn't carefully crafting an essay or a theory; she was just in the moment, trying to explain something to a friend. And so the spoon theory was born and it spread in the online chronic illness communities.

I'm giving it a try. I've printed myself out a sheet with how many spoons each activity is lol just to get an idea. And it's a good visual for my kids as they like the idea to. So I'm on it from tomorrow. Xx

Credit to the author of The Spoon Theory: Christine Miserandino.

She has lupus and one day, in a diner, she was trying to explain to her friend: what it was like to have much less energy.

There was a handful of spoons on the table in a cutlery stand. She grabbed some spoons and began using them as metaphors for energy.

One spoon: getting out of bed, for example. Another spoon: brushing her teeth. Someone without a chronic illness would not need to use up two spoons just getting out of bed and starting her day.
I can't remember exactly what she said about each activity but that's an example and a summary. Her friend was able to see and. understand deeply how someone with lupus (or another chronic illness) does not start the day with the same amount of energy as a typically well person does. Also, someone with a chronic illness uses up energy a lot faster than someone without a chronic illness.

(Any mistakes in explaining this are my own.)

Here's a little video that explains it clearly and simply:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDio-hS-M54