Sometimes I gaslight myself. I think something’s really wrong, but then I spiral—‘Doctors say I’m fine, so maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the problem.’ And then you’re in this Spoonie loop: physical health, mental health, anxiety, self-blame. It’s relentless. And when your symptoms are invisible, it’s even harder to trust yourself…

“It sucks here, but sometimes it’s kind of nice.” That’s how we describe the Spooniverse. This group—of therapists who also live with chronic illness—wasn’t built to fix anything. It was built so we could stop doing it alone. We talk about grief, weird symptoms, feeling like a burden, and yes, peeing our pants. But we also laugh—a lot. Because even when bodies fail us, connection doesn’t.

This year, there has been a lot to bounce back from. The resiliency we thought we may have had is probably running out as we face burnout, stress, and more unknowns. Here are some tips to help feel more resilient in the face of uncertainty.

SHOWINGUPNESS describes the degree to which reliability, empathy, care, intentionality, thoughtfulness, and embodiment of “just being there” is consistently demonstrated by someone.

 The whole stadium went immediately silent; My spine prickled. I looked at Paul and we both had tears in our eyes. Maybe a tiny bit because we sensed there might not be any coming back from this, but mostly because that silence was deafening and my heart ached…