Spoon Regeneration Station

What Inspired You to Make This?

This installation is part of a larger project encompassing multiple pieces called “Spoon Theory Art” that I have been engaged in for the last several years. Spoon Theory refers to a descriptive metaphor originally coined by Christine Miserandino in 2003 and used since then by the disability community and others. Miserandino, who has lupus, used a handful of spoons to demonstrate to a friend what it felt like to have a limited amount of energy available for basic tasks of daily living, and show how she and others dealing with the invisible disability of a chronic illness found it more difficult to replace or regenerate that energy than others might. (A “spoon” in this metaphor just refers to a unit of energy.) People now use the metaphor of spoons to express various ideas about having energy, running out of energy, conserving one’s energy, spending or rationing one’s energy, etc. Some people, especially those with invisible disabilities or those who find themselves in chronic situations that cause high levels of fatigue and exhaustion, even refer to themselves as “Spoonies”. I became aware of Spoon Theory after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and going through treatments that took away lots of my spoons and taught me the uncomfortable practice of daily spoon hoarding and rationing. I got used to saying things like “sorry, I can’t go do that thing with you, I just don’t have enough spoons today.” Though those most difficult days are now behind me, I have certainly been experiencing a similar feeling of exhaustion and constant running out of spoons building up over these last couple of years as we all collectively lived through a terrifying pandemic, a divisive election, a groundswell of protests over racial justice, an ever-growing pile of terrifying and relentless attacks on civil rights and the very foundations of our democracy, apocalyptic-level fires, storms and floods, and a horrifying ongoing war in Eastern Europe. And let's not even get into the awful conflicts in the Middle East and Africa that are happening right now. You likely have felt this too—I think we are all Spoonies now! We have all been subject to extra fatigue and mental/emotional exhaustion from dealing with everything the last three years have thrown at us. We have all expended so much energy on hypervigilance, upset, worry and fear that I think it has become harder on all of us to feel like we have enough energy to get through the daily tasks of living—and with our usual routines and activities all out of whack, it’s been hard to know if or how we’ll get our spoons back. It is my hope that by spending a few contemplative moments sitting in this spoon-rich environment, you will remember to appreciate the spoons you do have, and that it will remind you that sometimes you can find spoons in the most unlikely places, even when you think you have lost them all.