About Scaffold & Spoons

Scaffold & Spoons coalesced from the marriage of two concepts, one I devised and another I did not. Christine Meiserandino created the idea of "spoons" as a metaphor for energy conservation concerning chronic illness in 2003. Since then, "Spoon Theory" has exploded and has been widely adopted by many groups. The concept is now so widely integrated that some who use it choose to identify as "spoonies."

"Scaffolding" is an idea I came up with in college after surviving repeated traumas and illnesses from which I was left to recover, for all practical purposes, on my own. I have complex PTSD (C-PTSD), and each time a new trauma hit, it felt like a tsunami fist washed away all the hard work I did building my "life-house" and punched a massive hole in the ground killing my foundation. Not only that, but the foundation hole I was left in became more profound with each new trauma. I would be surrounded by rubble at the very bottom, using it and my fingernails to claw my way up and out. But it always felt like the pit would win. Every time it became deeper and deeper.

"It felt like a tsunami fist washed away all the hard work I did...killing my foundation."

I tried everything. I'm a huge fan of tools and will try most of them at least once (insert inappropriate but mandatory joke here). Many did not help, and over time, the recommendations became repetitive. In college, I knew I would need to devise my own system of recovery because clearly: my life was cursed, and I would need this skill over and over again. Unfortunately, I was right.

I started taking notice of things that helped and did not help. Eventually, I even tried to write these things down. The result? Journals full of disparate notes and vague ideas. Then it hit me - how do you climb out of a deep, dank hole? Scaffolding. No matter how deep, if I can slowly build a structural framework with the rubble at my feet, I will gradually reach the top. And the best part? Scaffolding is composed of individual structural pieces (aka tools, concepts, etc.) that can be put together to form a ladder out of hell. And what will I do once I've climbed out? Build a reinforced foundation and begin the work of building my life-house anew once again.

"I would need this skill over and over again.

Currently, I am recovering from Long COVID and related health complications, which has spurred me to work even more feverishly on my scaffold. Thanks to the encouragement of others, I will be documenting that process here on my site, Scaffold & Spoons, and sharing much more about my concepts, tools, and practices. I feel as if I have finally coalesced my ideas well enough to share them with you, dear reader, and I am both excited and terrified to do so!

~L