Have you heard of the spoon theory? This metaphor, introduced by Christine Miseradino in 2003, is used by some in the disability and chronic illness communities to describe having to ration energy for daily living tasks in a way that those without similar energy limits don't have to. The general idea is that a person has a set number of 'spoons' of energy at the start of the day, and each task uses up a certain amount. For a person with limited spoons, spending them on daily living tasks (brushing teeth, washing hair, getting dressed) means having fewer (or none) later in the day.
This was then adapted for nerdy folks like me, with the spell slot version via Tumblr:
In D & D, there are spells that a magic user can cast unlimited times per day. These are called cantrips. For me, a lot of stuff in life would be cantrips. This includes the things described above -showering, brushing teeth, getting dressed, eating food (not prepping, but actually eating), etc. These things normally don't use up any of my spell slots.
But then an episode hits. And it's like all of my spells have moved up a slot. So what was a cantrip before is now a 1st level spell. And what was a 1st level spell before, like driving to work or waiting for the bus, is now a 2nd level spell.
So now I have to use up all my lower level spell slots doing things that used to be cantrips for me. Eating food is hard. Spell slot used. Brushing my teeth feels like work. Spell slot used.
Soon I am out of 1st and 2nd level spell slots. I used those on things I normally don't have to. So now I'm using up my 3rd and 4th and 5th level spell slots on things that on other days would have been 1st and 2nd level spells. And I'm running out of spell slots. I'm not used to rationing them, because I don't live in this state permanently.
For someone else, this is what their spellbook always looks like. They never had cantrips, and they always use 1st level slots for those same things. They live every day using up all their spell slots on daily living. Or choosing what to do and what not to do to save up spell slots for the boss battles of work, school, and just leaving the house in general. And for another person, the things that are usually 1st or 2nd level spells for me are cantrips. They don't use their spell slots at all on those daily living activities, or even on some bigger things because they have a huge selection of cantrips.
And me? I live out the episode, learning to manage my spell slots until it is gone so that I can scrape by. But I know the episode will come back again and again and again. All I can do is hope I notice it sooner and learn to manage it faster each time.
