Posts | April Smith | The Thriving Spoonie

🫶What to do when self-compassion feels out of reach

Hi Reader, If self-compassion has felt distant lately, awkward, or just plain unavailable, this is for you. Not in a “you should be kinder to yourself” way. More in a “there might be a reason this feels hard right now” way. A lot of chronic illness advice treats self-compassion like a skill you can strengthen if you just try harder or practice more consistently. But when you’ve spent years overriding your body, managing symptoms, and staying functional under pressure, kindness doesn’t always...

1 day ago • 1 min read

⏳ When the holidays end but your energy hasn’t caught up

Hey Reader,If you’re feeling more wiped out now than you were during the holidays, this is for you. There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that shows up once things finally slow down. The plans are over. The expectations ease up. And instead of relief, your body seems to… drop. Energy dips. Emotions feel heavier. Routines that usually help feel harder to restart. That moment can be confusing, especially when you’ve already done so much work learning how to pace, rest, and adapt. It’s easy to...

8 days ago • 1 min read

🌿 A gentler way back into routine after the holidays

Hi Reader, The days after the holidays can feel strangely unmoored. Not quite rest. Not quite routine. Just that in-between space where your body is tired, your rhythm is off, and everything that used to feel automatic suddenly takes effort. If you’ve been feeling that lately, you’re not behind. You’re recalibrating. I wrote a new post this week about what it actually looks like to rebuild daily rhythm after the holidays when you live with chronic illness. Not the “get back on track” version....

15 days ago • 1 min read

🌟 What if the New Year didn’t ask more from you?

Hi Reader, I wrote this for you if the New Year already feels heavy. Not because you don’t want things to be better, but because the pressure to reset, optimize, and push harder doesn’t actually fit your body anymore. Especially when you’re living with chronic illness and your energy doesn’t follow tidy timelines. Every January, there’s this unspoken expectation that now is the moment to fix everything. New routines. New habits. New discipline. And even when we know that kind of thinking...

22 days ago • 1 min read

When winter slows you down more than you expected ❄️

Hi Reader,When winter slows you down more than you expected, it can mess with your head a bit. The quieter days, the lower energy, the sense that you should be doing more with your time even when your body is clearly saying otherwise. That tension used to show up for me every winter, especially while living with chronic illness. For a long time, I treated winter like something to push through. Shorter days felt like a challenge to overcome rather than a season to move with. And when I...

29 days ago • 1 min read

A Different Way to Look Back on Your Year With Chronic Illness

Hi Reader, As the year winds down, a lot of people start talking about clarity, lessons, and what they plan to do differently. But if you’re living with chronic illness, the end of the year often carries a different kind of weight. It can feel like you’re holding the sum of twelve unpredictable months in your body, not neatly tucked into a journal or tied together in a tidy reflection. I found myself reaching this season without the usual energy to make meaning out of everything. There wasn’t...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

🕯A gentler way to move through the holidays

There’s this point in December where the world seems to speed up—even if you’re standing still. The invites stack up, the errands multiply, and everyone starts talking about “making the most of the season” like that phrase means the same thing for everyone. But when you’re living with chronic illness, your capacity doesn’t expand just because the calendar says it should. That’s what I kept thinking as I wrote this week’s post—not about how to squeeze more joy into a season that’s already too...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

💫You don’t have to keep up with the pace everyone else expects

Hi Reader, Some weeks make it painfully clear that the world moves at a pace many of us simply can’t match. And if you’ve ever felt discouraged by how quickly everyone else seems to juggle work, home, errands, and life in general, you’re not alone. There’s a kind of pressure woven into our culture that tells us we’re supposed to keep up no matter what our bodies are doing. But what happens when you live with chronic illness and that pressure hits up against a body that doesn’t respond on...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read

A gentler way to move through the holidays ☃️

Hi Reader, There’s something about this time of year that brings up a strange combination of anticipation and pressure. The world starts shifting into celebration mode, and even if you love parts of the season, it can still feel like the pace around you speeds up long before your body is ready to match it. Lately,a I’ve been noticing all the small ways the holidays feel different when your energy is limited and your symptoms don’t take a break just because the calendar says it’s time to...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read

Why I don’t practice gratitude the way I used to

Hey Reader, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the world talks about gratitude—especially this time of year. It always seems to show up in neat little quotes and posts that say things like“There’s always something to be thankful for.”“Choose gratitude.”“Gratitude turns what you have into enough.” I don’t know about you, but when I’m navigating symptoms, appointments, side effects, and just trying to get through the week in one piece… that kind of messaging feels disconnected at best. At...

2 months ago • 1 min read