Breaks from the Hobby

I took almost a 3 year break. Just coming back now. When a hurricane hit in Texas we lost everything. We hit rock bottom. Had to sell all collections. We barely scraped by. We are finally getting stable again. I stopped following anything about bjds because it made me sad to see. But I am glad I can get back in.

 

Sorry to hear about that, Queeny. I'm in Houston, too, and it's disheartening to hear that other members lost so much during Harvey. Are you a part of the Houston BJD group on Facebook? I haven't been to a meeting, but I've met a member through another doll hobby and saw he also had BJDs. If you were looking for a group, there's a bunch of people there.

 

Yes I am in the group but have never said anything or met anyone locally. My social is so bad I don’t know if I could do it even though I would love doll friends

 

I'd actually intended to leave the hobby, but coming back to sell my dollies...well I found what I loved about it again really. So after about..two or three years out I am starting fresh with different tastes and ideas

 

I took a short break back in 2013 cause of a new job that had been taking up all of my energy. But then when I found out I was pregnant with my son in 2014, I put them up or away and didn't take them back out until summer or 2017. It made me sad but then my baby boy would babble at my SDs (No boxes for them, just a high shelf) when my tall husband would hold him. He still tries to talk to them. XD Then my break finally ended when I ordered Kiwi! (Luts TDF Hansel) I don't forsee anymore kids, so I don't forsee anymore breaks. •3•b

 

I take irregular breaks all the time in the hobby, it's not something I regularly partake in. But I find myself coming back to my dolls and playing with them whenever I feel like, and doing a larger project such as a faceup when I want to as well.

 

I've taken several short breaks as life demanded but always maintained an interest in dolls. So now I'm back & playing again & hope to continue for a good long while.

 

I've never taken a break from the hobby, even if I've had periods where I was too busy with life to be doing anything with my crew. They sit on their shelves and wait ever so patiently for me to dive back in whenever I have time and energy to take pictures, sew clothing, make props, or any other thing that I do. Even if I'm inactive on social media I don't see that equating to taking a break, I just have periods where I'd rather just keep to myself and others where I love to and participate on some level in the community.

 

I didn't break my hobby for long periods but surely there's a couple of months that I break from time to time.
I use my dolls mainly to sewing or experiment, so when I don't have new ideas, my dolls are in a cabinet all the time ^^

 

My brake was pretty long, I had to focus on college and then after I needed to build up my art career and start working on conventions and my portfolio. But finally I feel like I can focus on my boy again and hopefully add a new member into my doll family!

 

I've taken a few breaks. All for different lengths of time but the most recent one was for a few years. But I do that with all my hobbies. It's hard for me to put my focus on more than 2 or 3 hobbies at once, and since I have so many hobbies some a bound to get ignored . My interest always cycles back in time though.

 

I actually just finished my first break from the hobby! It was only a few months long but my interest in dolls didn't disappear. I did find myself getting sucked into new and older hobbies of mine that I felt like focusing on for a bit. I'm not sure how soon my next break will be, but I definitely plan on getting at least two new dolls next year!

 

I'm just like you, but in the applying for post secondary education process right now. I really should take a break for a while, but it's just not working for me because I love them so much haha

 

Four years, give or take. I had sold off or gave away nearly everything I had prior to moving for a new job. Friends ended up giving me one of my elves (because they knew me better than I knew myself at that point) but she ended up sitting on a table untouched. Four years later, I bought her a friend. These days it’s not as intense of a hobby as it once was? But I’m okay with that.

 

I took a pretty long break when I moved out of my parents' house. I sold most of my dolls so I could buy the nice furniture I wanted for my flat. I only kept my favourite doll for sentimental reasons and another one that didn't sell. I was pretty sure at the time that I was leaving the hobby for good because my interest was waning, but a couple of years later I randomly decided to get that one favourite doll out of storage and realised I'd missed her face.

Now I'm enjoying the hobby more than ever before xD

I'm glad I took the break. I feel like I came back refreshed and with better focus.

 

I just recently came back from over 3 years away from the hobby, I had moved into a smaller space and my dolls needed to be lovingly stored away, except for my grail doll. I haven’t visited DOA in so long, being back is a little overwhelming, there are so many new sculpts and companies and everyone has shared so many amazing photos here on DOA, my love of the hobby definitely hasn’t faded. I’ve missed styling my dolls and photographing them. There’s so much artistic expression and creativity that comes with collecting bjds, it’s something I dearly missed

 

Oh! This is such a great thread! I took a break from BJDs about Four years ago. I had a run in with some terrible folks on DOA and in the community and it really made me retreat from the hobby as a whole. Last year, I discovered Dollfie Dreams (oh boy!) so I have been focusing on the now. But just this past week a friend let me know what one of my grail dolls (Volks Michele) was up as a one-off, so I entered AND WON! I am motivated to get back into BJDs but I will be selling off most of my collection and just focus on a few. I only just got back onto DAO a couple days ago.

 

I took three years off, until this past September, because I got a new job that required a move across the country and a huge time commitment. I still don't really have the time to invest in the hobby like I used to, but I'm trying to set aside time for me to enjoy things I like a little more, including dolls.

 

Yeah my interest kind of waxes and wanes. I am not the kind of person who can have a single obsession forever. And sometimes I just wander off if I haven't got anything new to say or ask or a different hobby is the top expense at the moment.

 

I took a break for a good long time in college because I just didn't have the time or mental energy for my dolls. I also didn't have any friends that supported me in the hobby, everyone mostly just thought I was weird for it. Now that I've graduated and relocated to a new city, I've found some friends who are also in the hobby and I've jumped right back in! While I was out of the hobby I sold all of my dolls except for my Iplehouse Tatiana, and I'm honestly pretty glad it worked out that way. I realized that I prefer MSD sized dolls after I sold my SD and Yo-SD dolls, and I want to start buying furniture and props for my MSD girl.