silverware theory
i'm sure most of y'all have heard of spoon theory, the idea that the amount of "spoons", aka resources/energy, someone has, determines how much someone can do in a certain period of time(this mostly applies to chronically ill, neurodivergent, and mentally ill folks as far as i know)
spoons only cover energy though. what about the other stuff? yeah, there's more silverware! fun!! /hsarc
it can be kinda hard to read a wholeass article so i tried to make each concept more bite sized(pun not intended lol). feel free to let me know if this is too wordy! constructive feedback is important after all.
spoons:
-you have a limited number of spoons every day
-it's pretty much impossible to gauge how many spoons you have starting out, as well as exactly how many spoons a certain activity may take
-EVERYTHING requires spoons, no matter how enjoyable it is
-sometimes you can recover spoons by doing restful/restorative activities(sleeping, reading a favorite book, playing with your cat, etc)
-the same activity can take different amounts of spoons day to day
-if you use up all your spoons one day, you'll probably have less spoons the next day(or longer)
-recovering spoons takes time
-you can't control how many spoons you have. it's not a matter of "laziness"
forks:
-comes from the phrase "stick a fork in me"
-forks are everyday stressors/inconveniences ranging anywhere from needing to pee to someone intentionally triggering you
-the amount of forks you can take varies like spoons
-one large fork like getting triggered can ruin your whole day
-same with several smaller forks(think "the straw that broke the camel's back")
-having lower fork tolerance doesn't make you weak
-it just means getting stabbed with forks sucks
knives:
-can refer to overexertion, pushing past your limits
-i've seen it used to refer to trauma as well*
-not everyone can handle knives because they are extremely detrimental
-knives hurt really bad and often cause lasting and/or permanent damage
-AVOID KNIVES IF YOU CAN
-if there's a super important reason behind the knife, be prepared to staunch the (metaphorical) bleeding
-using excessive knives is ill advised
(this article beats around the bush a lot so it was kinda hard to glean much)
*i've only ever seen the trauma knife theory in RPG settings. it made sense to me, but should be taken with a bowl of
[ID: a digital poster from mentalhealthathome.org titled The Mental Illness Cutlery Drawer. it reads spoons: resources you have to spend. forks: external stressors. knives: traumas. whisks: sources of agitation and overwhelm. meat tenderizer: beat the crap out of you, and just keep on beating. END ID]
