BJDS: A hobby... or *way of life*?

1)you can't make a living from just collecting BJDs, which is what most of us on DOA do. If you sell clothing for BJD, you're a seamtress/manform of that. If you make BJD, you're an artist/sculpter/creator. How can you have a BJD way of life? Pinokio..
2)so I see this thread as the most laughable topic yet (on DOA), and not just because of the definition issue -- it's also ridiculous because "something deeper" is just another way to express emotional connection. If you mean Obesessively obesessed with the hobby, beyond 'like' and 'love', then comes problems with your social life and financial life.

3)Now the disclaimer... I'm not attack you, Andie, I'm honestly criticizing the idea of this thread.

4)To answer your questions:
Does this mean BJDs can be a "way of life"?---eh. not really.
Is there such a thing as "the resin life", where BJD collecting is a major part of what defines you?---if you mean what you can say during introductions to a new friend/spouse/in a job interview, yes. It's something you LOVE beyond hope.
Or are BJDs always "just a hobby"? Do you think being this passionate is alright? ---What can be beyond "just a hobby"? And yes I think being passionate is alright.

 

It's just the same point that we end up needing to make on every one of these threads. For someone to say that they don't want a hobby to become THEIR way of life is one thing. Generalizing that to all people in the universe and saying that a hobby shouldn't be a way of life for ANYONE is ridiculous.

I personally don't care if someone else wants to have their "way of life" be dressing, faceupping and taking pictures of BJDs all day long, regardless of whether that person is an "artist" or just some amateur who likes BJDs, as long as they don't let the BJDs get in the way of living a responsible life (i.e. don't neglect your health, kids, pets, rent payments, etc. because you're so wrapped up in your BJDs). I don't want dolls to become MY way of life but I'm not going to stand around issuing judgmental statements about what dolls should or should not be to others, and I would hope that others would have the same respect for me.

 

Hmmmm, this is an interesting question.

For me, I think it's a little more than a hobby because they are so integrated into my life and occupy a lot of my thoughts, but I wouldn't call it a way of life.

I'm sure it could be a way of life for some people, though, like some have been saying, if they dedicate their careers to it. Perhaps there are people whose lives, even if their career is not related to them, are so dominated by dolls that BJD collection and care would be considered a way of life.

 

It depends on how you define a hobby, I suppose. The thing is, people can be very passionate about their hobbies--hobbies bring people great enjoyment, they can be very social (abjds are a pretty social hobby), and people like to spend time on them. Hobbies are a part of one's life.

I'm very hobby oriented, because I get interested in stuff, and I want to be mentally active and creative--and believe me, when you get stuck going to a boring job day in and day out, having hobbies can greatly improve things. I would also say that bjds fit into my life well--they fit with my personality and other interests. The hobby is a part of me, like all the thing that I'm involved in are a part of me whether it's dolls, music, art etc. Sometimes people get caught up in the idea that it's the big things like what job you have that defines you, but because hobbies allow me to follow my own interests and express myself, I feel that they are more reflective of me than the previous jobs I've had.

 

It's definitely a hobby that I am passionate about.

When I think of a 'way of life' I think Confuscionism/Taoism/Buddhism, not dolls.

 

BJDs are by and large a "fandom" in the sense that the Science Fiction/Fantasy readers/convention goers defined it back in the 1930s-40s-50s when dinosaurs roamed the earth. There are those that are absolutely casual about it, but for some, it is FIAWOL: Fandom Is A Way Of Life. If you read the following, you will find about 99% of correspondence between the sf-fan hobbyist and the BJD hobbyist with only the names of things changing http://www.cherryh.com/www/fiawol.htm. "Fan" is short for "fanatic" after all.

 

It's a hobby for me. Each individual has their own interpretation on whether this is something greater than hobby.

 

I'm a pretty causal doll person, so for me it's definitely not a way of life. However, I do have a non-career passion that I feel really does define who I am and certainly is a huge part of my way of life, though not the whole thing. I also have o intention of making a career out of it because I think attaching what I love to financial stress would ruin it.

I don' think there's anything wrong with having dolls (or any other interest) as a defining part of who you are, so long as you don't neglect any other responsibilities. I think it's great to have a passion, and so long as it isn't illegal or harmful, I don't much care what that passion is.

 

Thanks for being Jane the Explainer, Victoria. You said it better and more succintly than I could.

 

"Hobby" doesn't really sum up how I feel about BJDs and how I interact with them. "Way of life" doesn't quite fit either somehow; "fandom" works best for me because I'm a proud geek/otaku/fujoshi anyhow :p. I spend time every day at least thinking about BJDs. I have other pursuits, too, and as others have said, find them more defining of my life and my character than my job is. Some of us live for the weekend and the fun stuff!

 

For me, doll-collecting is my hobby and BJDs are the most recent doll I collect. Dolls are most certainly not a "way of life" for me and serve more as an escape from the mundane. Sometimes, I go to stores or shows and discuss it on the net, but only when I'm avoiding homework, housework or doing something, uh... boring, lol!

But that doesn't mean that I feel making a hobby a "way of life" is a bad thing. Frankly, I admire those who can take the love of a hobby and transform it into a career. I think it would be fabulous to go into work and love what you're doing. Congrats to those who have made BJDs their way of life and still continue to love both the hobby and the way of life aspects.

 

I love it as a hobby and as something I do, but I wouldn't define it as a 'way of life' for myself. I see my particular 'way of life' as the customs, traditions, spirituality, and teachings I have from my culture. My hobby is an extension of myself in that I get to create and enjoy, but I wouldn't put it in the same category as traditional cultural art that I do.

 

I'm going with hobby. It's probably one of the more " involved" hobbies though, so it might seem like a way of life? Not many hobbies are like that...At least. In my eyes. The life style thing though is a little strange in the way I see it...I mean if people want to make it that way, that's fine, I have nothing against it. I just think if you're making collecting dolls and making it your way of life...yeah...it's a bit. Unhealthy. There's other things in life that needs to be intended to and be done. BUT. That's just me.
I also think it's how far the obsession gets too, though I'm sure we all have our different levels of love and obsession.

 

I'd say PART of my life ~ not my WAY of life. Big difference. I am a passionate person with varied interests that I suppose are reflected in me, but I am not all about my BJDs.

 

I still think there's a difference between what you say here and a way of life. I turned my hobbies - gaming and writing - into my job, but it isn't my way of life. It doesn't give me a specific worldview, or a set of morals I have based my life on and which help me with the choices I make. No matter how fond I am of my job, it doesn't define me. Not in the way the customs, traditions I was brought up with and my beliefs do. Unless it stems from a personal belief system (monks, animal activists etc), a job is 'just' a job to me and a hobby 'just' a hobby. That doesn't make it any less special though.

Basically: I don't think a hobby can become someone's way of life, unless it answers fundamental life-questions (s)he has.

 

I'm going to go with way of life rather than hobby! Hobby sounds too limp a word for the amount of money and effort ploughed into the aquiring, customizing and bringing to "life" of these little resin sculptures. I mean, the type of doll you buy and the things you do to it show what kind of person you are because you put your unique personal "scent" all over the things! This is going to make me sound at least 50% pretentious douche or insane but these dolls are another way to unleash the population of characters living in my head (I write books so I always have at least 6 clear characters a week pop into my head) and I really do love the type of beauty they have in a way that a fashion photographer loves supermodels, that's more than a hobby to me.

 

definitely just a hobby for me... I had a few weeks where it felt like way of life, and I have to say it was pretty terrible for me! I felt constantly unhappy cause my doll wasn't what I wanted him to be.. but then I stepped back and was like "okay, its just a doll, it's not the end of the world..." and it was much better. I try not to make anything material my way of life... there are far more important things, like others have said, fighting for causes, religious ideals, seeking enlightenment, helping people... these are things that I want to define me, not any manmade object that could expire in a house fire.

Currently my way of life is that of a christian college student, trying to discover what honor is left in the world, trying to be vegan, and trying to find how I can make a difference for the downtrodden of this world, both people AND animals. I just have dolls because I think they're cute.

 

I don't think so. I think for every doll-person out there who's into BJDs with their heart and soul, there's another doll-person out there to whom, BJDs are just a hobby and nothing more. Something they're into and they like to do but that isn't really the most important part of their life. It's got nothing to do with being afraid to be called crazy when those people don't call BJDs anything other than a hobby - to them, it IS just a hobby. I'm one of them.

My way of life is - well, my way of life. You can't actually put a label on it, like "goth" or "punk" or "computer geek" or somethng like that. I like many things and enjoy many things and got many hobbies. Sometimes, hobby A will be my most important, sometimes, it'll be hobby B. That's my way of life - getting into whatever kind of hobby I like whenever I like. BJDs are part of that way of life but they definitely aren't THE way of life for me.