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- Beany Brain #68: Gather Ye Spoons While Ye May
Beany Brain #68: Gather Ye Spoons While Ye May
Abigail Munday
November 18, 2025
Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!
Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.
Table of Contents
Photo by Abigail Munday
Gather Ye Spoons While Ye May
This video says it all:
Every day is a million things.
And each step of each task takes a spoon.
How many spoons do you have each morning to start with?
Ever heard of spoon theory before?
Surprisingly, spoon theory has nothing to do with eating. It’s actually a way of explaining how people living with chronic illnesses which cause fatigue, such as neurological conditions and mental illnesses, manage their energy levels.
If you experience fatigue, you may have found it difficult to explain to those around you why seemingly minor tasks can seem huge, and why basic self-care can drain all your energy reserves.
Christine Miserandino, who has lupus, created the spoon theory metaphor to help people understand this.
Why is it called spoon theory?
Christine was eating in a diner with a friend, who asked her how it felt to live with her condition. In response, Christine grabbed every spoon she could find and began to explain how her illness impacted on her life in the best way she could.
To simplify it, each spoon equals a unit of energy.
I’ve mentioned spoon theory here in Beany Brain before, but thought it might be helpful again.
Because I need to hear it again.
Here’s how I sometimes recoup spoons:
A nap, if I can.
Retelling myself my own story: I live in a foreign country, I’m neurodivergent, I have many diverse responsibilities. It’s an adventure, yes, and also exhausting.
Reading a good book.
Doing my daily puzzles: Wordle, Connections, Wordiply.
Checking small things off my to-do list gives me a big dopamine hit.
Being alone.
Taking a walk.
Turning off a podcast or music.
Turning on a podcast or music (yes, both of these make sense to me).
Taking a photo that I end up really liking.
Sitting with God quietly and with a journal.
Of course, last but not least: Having a cuppa.
I used to look around and wonder how other people had so much energy. It was a comparison game.
A game that was never fun.
(Kinda like Monopoly. No, thank you.)
I even had a very genki (energetic) friend ask me one time why I wasn’t “doing more.” (And that was when I was working full time for a salary.) As if my value depends on my productivity and output.
That was before my diagnoses and before I could explain my brain, even to myself.
It helps to know and to understand that I don’t have as many spoons as your average neurotypical person.
In fact, I’m looking at the clock now and realizing that tomorrow will necessitate the need for some extra spoons with some folks coming over and some prep before then, so I will get myself to bed to gather me spoons while I may.
I’m hitting the hay, folks.
And I may just count spoons instead of sheep.
Ha Ha Haiku
My aim is to share a funny haiku with you every week in every newsletter, whether it’s one of my own or one I curate for you. HA. Ha. Haiku.
Haiku by Yamada Zenjido, via jonellepatrick.me with translation
Photo by Abigail Munday
Awe Makes Us Nicer
I’m not sure “nicer” is always the prescription, but maybe calmer and softer spirits and minds will lead to the world being a nicer place in general.
In fact:
Yes, we need boundaries.
And yes, we need kindness and niceness. Love without limits and with limits, if you see what I mean.
If a dose of awe can help with this, then let’s do this thing!
This article from “Inc.” says:
Most of us have experienced this fleeting zing of curiosity and wonder and enjoyed it as a pleasant dusting of emotion spicing up the everyday. But science says awe is much more than sprinkles on the sundae of life. It’s more like a vitamin that we need to get regularly to maintain our mental health.
Here are the “8 wonders of life” in the article:
Moral beauty: Admiring the selfless love that others share in small and big ways.
Collective movement: When you’re in sync with others.
Nature. (Of course!)
Music. Do you have a favorite genre?
Visual design. This is why I love the Netflix series “Abstract” so much!
Spirituality. I do not believe we just happened by chance.
Big ideas. I think they create awe and action.
Life and death. Joy and grief are intertwined.
When I look at my leafy neighborhood buddy, Penelotree, I think I almost experience all 8 of the above wonders.
Photo by Abigail Munday
Awe. Wonder. Niceness. Kindness.
Happier beany brain.
Happier world.
Photo by Abigail Munday
Yeehawesome!
Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?
I’ve been encouraged by the November 5th “Happier with Gretchen Rubin” podcast episode to “use it up.” In other words, don’t let your good stuff just sit there and go to waste. So I dusted off my tetsubin (cast iron tea kettle) this week and remembered why I don’t use it often: It takes longer to boil water than my stainless steel one, it rusts if I don’t treat it carefully, and it takes two sets of boiling to fill my Dutch insulated teapot that can hold 4 people’s worth of tea. But I’m setting an intention to use it more often, anyway. I do love the aesthetics of it.
I’m following @soulseedsforgood on Instagram. So wholesome! Pass the box of Kleenex, please. (And lots of smiles too.)
Anna Kennedy runs a cafe in Oldham, Manchester, in the UK, and she trains neurodivergent people and other vulnerable folks to work there. She herself came from South Africa and suffered from alcoholism—she has a huge heart for those who are alone or suffering.
Quote of the Week
Women in love look the way Botticelli painted them. Men in love look like someone bonked them with a baseball bat.
- Garrison Keillor in his novel, The Lake Wobegone Virus
Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness
Wonderful Wednesday
Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.
Photo by Abigail Munday
Today’s Beany-full Summary:
The spoon theory can help us as neurodivergent people to put our possibly lower energy levels into perspective.
Awe can help us feel nicer and kinder.
Go forth in Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?
Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.
If you’re enjoying Beany Brain, please share with a friend or seventeen at www.beanybrain.com. Cheers big time!