Okay a definition of a spoon isn't really going to help so I looked around and here's what I found when I asked Google to define 'Spoonie'
Spoonie - noun This word refers to an absolutely brilliant article , 'The Spoon Theory' written by Christine Miserandino.
But then I noticed that that doesn't really explain anything, other than that Google has good taste in authors, so I delved deeper and found this.
Spoonie - Spoonies are people that live with a chronic illness; theoretically measuring personal daily abilities much as one would measure the proper amount of spoons needed for an event or occasion...sometimes having an abundance, other times coming up short. Urban Dictionary
When trying to explain what life with Lupus was like, author Christine Miserandino stumbled across an explanation that has become so large that all of the people I know with a chronic illness identify themselves as a Spoonie.
Being a Spoonie means that you have monitor everything you do, weigh up whether the effort is worth the result and then use cutlery to try and boost yourself. But it also gives friends and family members a way to relate, spoons are like a little door into the world of someone with a chronic illness. It's something tangible that the outside world can pick up and understand, if my family notice that I'm running low on energy they hide spoons in my pockets or they find the biggest spoons they can to show me that they care.
Quite often people with chronic and invisible illnesses can be isolated from the rest of the world because it's so hard to explain why you can't do what they can. Saying you've run out of spoons or that you're already borrowing tomorrows supply gives them a physical picture to grasp, making it so much easier for both you and them.
I am a Spoonie and although it doesn't always seem it, I am very proud to be.
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