One of the things I’ve read that really changed my way of thinking about the world was the essay commonly known as Spoon Theory. I spent basically my entire youth as a completely able-bodied person, and while I had theoretical compassion for people with disabilities, I had no gut level understanding of what it was like to live with a disability. Reading this essay in college (or possibly shortly thereafter? I can’t recall exactly when it was) helped me understand why so many people couldn’t “just” do something or other.
Understanding disability is just one step along the road to understanding the whole system of intersectionality and how everybody’s lives are (or can be) different from one’s own. Not every essay will resonate with every person, and that’s okay. I hope this one helps you understand it a little bit better.
As I find them along the way, I’ll try to add links to this post to other versions of Spoon Theory that I’ve read, written by people who found the original metaphor to be limiting or inaccurate. One such alternative metaphor is a D&D one that uses “Spell Slots” as the day-limited resource that a disabled person must shepherd.
And that reminds me that some people with chronic illness refer to themselves/each other with the affectionate term “spoonie.” Now I’m wondering if a goofy bard with a chronic illness would refer to themself as a Spoony Spoonie.
Emilybook 