"Attachment to Inanimate Objects".

I am on the fence. I'm emotionally attached to my dolls but I don't view them as inanimate objects. Obviously, I know they aren't really alive and all that good stuff, but they are more real to me than say... a bag of catfood or a zebra painting. Just how I operate.

I've had emotional attachment to other things in my life though... like this one stuffed rabbit I have named Blunky. I've had him FOREVER. Well, I mean, for a long time.

I think even if you aren't all sentimental over non-living things that you can develop a bond with a doll or feelings of sorts for a doll. Yep.

 

I have always loved dolls because they're like little inanimate people. I couldn't bare to part with Oli. I've parted with a lot of dolls in my life. all my barbie dolls, my Bratz (yeah I collected those), I've thrown away some of the creepy 1/12 sized dolls I made for my doll house. I keep my stuffed animal collection because I want to pass them down to my children. Oli is different though for some reason. I just really have a connection with her. I realized that I don't refer to her as "my doll" very often either. she's always just Oli.
P.S. I admit to being a packrat too.

 

I get sentimentally attached to all manner of thing....My fav furniture, my fav pair of ratty old jeans, my kitchen cabinets... And even more.

And my dolls too.

But in each case, I had some huge personal involvement in aquiring or maintaining the items. I spent a lot, and looked hard for just the right furniture. I and my hubby and father in law installed the kitchen cabinets ourselves, just the way I wanted my kitchen to look.... the ratty jeans are held together by tons of patches I've applied as they aged....


And the dolls, well, I've had to save for those, bought many of them second hand, and even one of them I had to "restore" 'cause her previous owner wasn't kind. I love them easily, not only because they are beautiful, but because getting them was an effort, for one reason or another. It was a work of love, unique to the aquisition and/or restoration of each doll. Having each doll comes with a story. A memory. An experience of bonding...

I don't get attached to things like my iron, or my computer screen. But other things--things that I had a connection to in their creation or acquisition... I easily bond with every single one of them. The dolls are just easier because they are like extra children in my house. THey seem to call out for most of the same things my own children want. A nice room, decent clothing... attention and love.

So though inanimate on a physical level, the emotions connected to them are highly animated.

 

I feel the same way - my dolls are representations of characters, and I'm attached to the characters, not to the dolls themselves. I could continue to enjoy the characters without the dolls. I wouldn't even be particularly upset (beyond monetary-related annoyance) if I had to resell my dolls, or if they were lost in a fire or something similar. I can always buy another doll if absolutely necessarily in future, or just do without.

 

Thats how i am My boy was a character before he was a doll (a character im highly attatched to) I even bonded with him before he got here! ><

I was always attachted to everything i owned as a little kid. Now i can get rid of most of the junk i've had over the years, but certain things i have to keep if i have a memory with it Like certain stuffed animals and whatnot.. Particularly my All Dogs Go to Heaven plushies i've had since i can remember, and this little...Bat...cat toy thing i found in a food market yeeaaaarrrssss ago XD;

 

I'm pretty attached to my dolls; they have personalities, stories and such - but I don't talk to them or share woes. But I am attached to them in the sense that they are lovely objects upon which I have invested alot of time, money [T__T] and effort, so getting rid of them isn't that easy.

 

So true! For me, my dolls are a physical representation of my own imagination. I'm an extremely nurturing soul by nature and have always had a busy house full of people, children and animals to care for. So it is very easy for me to see my plushies and dolls as magical, imaginary creatures who need to be cared for too, have stories written about them, and be interacted with as a natural way of life. And I'm way, way, way beyond childhood, trust me! I don't become overly attached to electronics or bits of clothing...it's only something that is human or animal-like that makes me feel this way. Bonding makes me happy, it's as simple as that. And I've reached an age where, thankfully, I couldn't care less what other people think about how endearing my dolls are to me. With all the stresses of real life, bogged down with so much responsibility and so many demands, it's truly lovely to have a few imaginarly friends to make you smile at the end of the day. It's never too late to have a wonderful childhood...we should all maintain a bit of that childlike imagination within ourselves.

 

I am the same way! I STILL have my first monitor, I made my dad make me keep it xD -hugs dusty old dinosaur-

And I still kept one of my barbies (I just can't get rid of her!) I have so many stuffed animals here's almost no room in my bedroom for me D: When I decided I was goign to get a doll, I knew I would have to make room, but I only ended up making less room because I make things for the dolls!

I am a huge pack rat T.T I got an award for it I sure was proud of that, my school back pack use to have tons of toys in it ><

 

I think that attachment to inanimate objects has a lot to do with the imagination.

My dolls/stuffed animals are so easy to bond with because of the attachment that's resulted from endless hours of playing with them. The stuffed animals that I'd bonded with since childhood are still not something I can give away unlike other stuffed animals which have since been passed on to younger siblings. My imagination is what gives them personality, the ability to talk, just in the way that the stone house next to the creek becomes a castle, etc.

That said, if I really like a doll or stuffed animal enough, there is no problem bonding within time.

I definitely think that without my very active imagination, I would have a hard time bonding with an inanimate object that I didn't play with.

 

I used to be like that, but when I started living on my own I found it just impossible to keep everything, and gradually I kind of lost my attachment to inanimate things-besides dolls, that is. I recently had to replace my computer and felt bad about it, because it was a gift from my grandmother(though I really used it up to it's last wire XD), but not because I was personally attached to the computer or anything. When I was younger, I would've had a lot more trouble with that.

I also got really attached to drawings and costumes, to things I made, because those were..what was once in my head and now in the real world, and I was amazed by that-that it was possible to get your ideas out-so I was attached to them. Now, that almost childlike wonder has been replaced by a more critical attitude-okay, so my idea came out, but it's not perfect yet. What can be improved. I prefer it this way, because otherwise I'd have a really bad time selling stuff I made and I'd never be able to become a professional designer/seamstress XD

Anyway, that's also how it works with me and dolls. I've sold two dolls because they didn't work out for the character. The dolls that do work, I'm really attached to and I adore them, because for me..they are the visual representations of something in my head-and it worked. The fact that it worked and that they look the way I wanted them to look, is what makes me attached to them..when they don't work, I mainly get annoyed by them and want to fix it. I'm attached to them because they're my muses..I cuddle them and have fun watching movies with one with me, but they're mostly my beautiful sources of inspiration.

I like it that way

 

I'm such a packrat, I have all my favorite old Magic Nursery dolls I loved to death as a kid and can't bare to part with all the stuffed animals that used to have a permanent place on my bed. I think all the time that they should go on to a better place than bags in my closet, but then I can't bare the thought of someone else ruining them or neglecting them more.

My dolls as well as all my painting I simply will not part with. They're so me and they just simply make me happy. I have a lot of pride in them and I love having them around.

But those are really the only things I have a great attachment for. I think every month or so I swear up and down I'm going to open up the house to the public and let people waltz in - pick up something - make an offer and leave with it. Would anyone love piles and piles of old kitchen ware and Christmas Decorations? XDDDDD

 

I have 2 friends who are good examples to use.

One collects and brings her dolls to meets and events. But doesn't bond/play with her dolls. She gives them personalities based on her original fiction characters and use them for photoshoots and stuffs. And that's basically it.

My other friend and I do no give our dolls personalities, nor do we model them after our original characters. We either got them by chance or because we like the sculpt. From there we let the dolls develop their own personalities.

The 2 of us are the types who believe that the more human something looks, the more it's bound to have a soul. So our dolls are basically treated like mini humans.

The first friend doesn't get attached to things easily. Like how her very first handphone she didn't keep it but threw it away. As with her 18th birthday present from her family which she threw away as it's spoilt.

The second friend and I are the type who try to keep everything... Such as handphones we have used...More of me though...I refuse to trade-in my handphones no matter how my dad threatens me...

Hence we both have a lot of stuffs amassed in our bedrooms that can be clearly labelled as rubbish by people...

 

I bond with everything as long as it's not a real person . I bond with books. Not just the characters, but the actual paper and ink. I bonded with my CD player, I bonded with my iPod (Podrick, his name is). Don't even get me started on my toys. I bonded with my art mannequin, Oscar, and gave him a face and sewed little clothes and a hat for him. I bonded with my duvet, my rug, my bedroom door, and a specific corner of my room. I have bonded with clothes-pegs.
I do NOT often bond with people or reality. Usually I don't find them/it interesting enough.
So basically inanimate objects are easier for me to bond with than animate ones. I'm wondering if I should be concerned with this, but I don't think so.

 

I've always been emotional attached to dolls and stuffed animals. I think for me though it was and still is an escape fromthe real world. I didn't have friends as a child so I had to make up my own, plus I was always a little odd anyway.

But I'm more attached to the idea rather than the object.

 

I was pretty lonely as a kid, my sister passed when I was just 6 and I grew up on a farm with "old-style" parents.... My One Barbie and her friend, a clone, were the center of my playtime for many years. I lived all kinds of adventures through them, sewing them costumes to match... I think that's where I developed my love of doll costuming....I mean, I would never have worn those outfits, I was way too conservative, but my dolls...they had exciting lives. Yes, I was bonded to them in that they were my pipeline to another world..that and books.
Now? So far my dolls have been sewing mannequins, earning their keep. Other than a non-bjd, Lara Croft....now she has a life....
I've just gotten my 1st BJD, an AA San but he again was purchased as a sewing tool..... But the one I'm excited about is the Elfdoll RuRu I have on lay away! She will have a life! And she will need a suitable partner, I think Unidoll Berkut! Her personality is taking form as I write.... I am anxiously awaiting her arrival!

 

I'm not really sure if I'm overly attached to my doll collection or not. I love my dolls and take good care of them. I like to look at them and that makes me happy. Changing their clothes and adjusting their poses is fun. There are some dolls I could part with and some dolls I could never, but that is the same for all my favorite possesions. How much they cost is never the issue but intrinsic value maybe. I have an old piano that was mine as a child and now my son practices his lessons on it. It's worn from wear and from use, but I love it just the same because it's been with my family for so long. Could I sell it? Absolutely! Would I? Probably not. Same for my dolls.

 

.

 

I'm a "thing" person but I don't tend to "bond" with dolls. It's more likely for me to get emotionally attached to stuffed animals such as bears, and I've limited the number of them I have because too many would wear me out. I can understand if other people feel that way about their dolls. I don't feel the same sense of bonding with the vast majority of dolls though. I have a large number of dolls but only feel attached to one or two; the rest just seem to be low-stress companions or even just pretty objects.

 

I consider myself a "thing" person because I am aware of the history, quality, beauty, and value of certain things, but I do not go out of my way to bond emotionally with them... Maybe because I grew up in the scrounging antiques and second-hand-goods business. The persons who raised me had a houseful of the most exquisite treasures imaginable (imagine growing up on every Antiques Roadshow episode crammed into one small mouldering house) yet would dismiss gushing and amazement with a dismissive "It's all for sale". So I tend not to get carried away with my material infatuations. I tend to keep something until it no longer 'sings' to me (to quote the estimable John Darcy Noble) then part with it.

For me bjd are a purely artistic pursuit. When I've completed a project and don't feel the need to keep the doll around, I can send it out into the world like a grown child. I still love it, and have invested a good deal of work and care in it, but I don't need to keep it in under my roof. I don't feel the desire to exhort my relatives to keep it if I should die or something.

It's like a big glorious juggling show; all these marvelous things in the air, created by human hands and valued by different persons in different places down through time. I keep something as long as I can be the worthiest custodian, then it moves on. BJD included.

Raven

 

I didn't really understand what it meant to "bond" with dolls at first. Once I go my first one though, and began customizing, taking photos, etc. I finally got it. To me it's kind of like the attachment I have to my truck. I would be extremely upset if either my dolls or my truck were damaged beyond repair. The time and effort I've spent working on them, customizing, and such makes them special to me. I have to admit though, I've never been burned, cut or been up to my elbows in oil and grease because of my dolls.