Do you feel alone in the hobby? (even with the forum)

Besides at cons, no one around me knows about or has any interest in the hobby and I'm actually a little afraid to tell my friends about it because they find it to be "creepy". So yeah, lonely is pretty spot on.

 

Sometimes. I actually have a large group within state for BJDs. However, with large groups comes some ... drama. I don't get along with everyone and it's a city, so people are generally flaky. I also don't live super-close to most of the people I do get along with. They're all an hour or more away. It was recently that I realized I got into dolls because of my loneliness here. I don't fit in with city people and it's hard to get close to others in such a dense population (ymmv). In our previous place of residence, we were cut off from civilization, so we made tons of great friends relatively quickly. Out here, it has not been that way at all.

My dolls themselves ease my loneliness. I squirrel away every extra penny for them, I take pictures of them everyday and they hang out with me on my days off. I even take them to work sometimes. I understand that the dolls are a result of my loneliness. I couldn't get close to people, so I became close to my dolls. I've decided being 'lonely' really isn't so bad at all. I live a much more peaceful existence with this moderate level of disconnect.

 

I hope you are able to eventually meet some people you can talk with about dolls. Even online people who will Skype with you might help you feel less alone. It's not quite the same as in-person interaction, but it's better than nothing. ^_^

Maybe Skype chat with the friends who got you into the hobby?

 

Just think how much worse it was before there was the internet!!! Those were tough times for people who enjoyed unusual hobbies... That's how the first sci-fi and anime and other types of conventions started, because it was the only way for people who liked the same things to come together--and many people had to save up all year and travel great distances to get to the few cons there were.

At least with the internet people can see that there are others out there. Before--you were REALLY and truly alone!

 

It seems that people are way more lonely nowadays. Put I admit I wouldn't even know about BJDs without the internet, so well, it's useful for rare hobbies like BJDs.
I don't feel lonely, I do not really care about meeting people in this hobby because my friends know about my love for BJDs and are really positive. But I like to enjoy this hobby on my own and it does not bother me not to spend afternoons talking about dolls and stuff. My local community is also very lazy so meetup does not happen more than once in a year mostly because not a lot of people would come anyways. Lazy, I said ~

But I'd truly like to have more online BJD lover friends :3 it' s just hard for me to keep in touch when I don't see people irl. How paradoxical.

 

Yes it can be lonely. My sister has bjds (thanks to my influence) and a friend collects fashion doll types, but both live far away. I have non bjds as well.

 

I'm lucky as my sister shares our flat, and was dollicted a few years ago. We admired BJDs from afarfor years and then I got myselve into the hobby in earnest. I got her, her grail doll, and even if she isn't as active as I am, she understands when I ramble about dolls on end, do whatever creative project involving them and can't think of anything else but resin boys.
Well she sometimes sais I should get out a bit more and perhaps ad a few humans to my list of friends...
I'm very happy I have her.

 

I totally feel isolated in this hobby, but then, I'm in a tiny town in rural Western Australia. DOA helps, but I'm hopeless at getting to know people online. Once we get past initial intros and chat I just run out of things to say. I'm not much of a people person, even when I want to be.

 

All the doll people I know of live in every other part of the state but mine so it's kind of lonely.

 

i don't know any doll people in my city, and online i am very shy so sometimes i feel alone with this hobby. but forums and stuffs help even if its just reading other posts

 

I can understand all of this! I lived in a big city for a long time and had lots of friends who lived close by, but then I moved to the states to another big city and I have virtually no friends! Now I'm getting into dolls again.

But, I don't think of myself as lonely in the hobby, I'm happy enjoying hobbies on my own, I'm just lonely full stop! I actually find it really hard to make friends at meet ups (Not just doll meet ups but any interest group) as I actually don't have much to say about my hobbies and talking about them isn't the fun part for me! I'd rather just meet people who are similar and not talk about a particular interest. So, I went to a knitting/sewing & drinking meet up and we had a great time taking about travel and study and things.

 

Hi im kinda glad im not the only one who feels like this, as im from a semi small town in England and i have no one who likes dolls and i cant talk to no one about dolls as everyone thinks im weird for collecting Dolls, or they think the dolls are freaky, id love to have a nearby friend who loves to dolls too, but how do you go searching for friends who like the hobby without people being mean about it :/

 

Sookiecookie

I'm not sure how far Worthing is too me but I'm from London and if it was possible for you to reach London you can join the Pygmalion Society which has local London meets or if you even host your own meets in the 'meets' category and see if anyone is interested. You never know.

 

I fee fairly alone in the hobby. Even here as I do not feel a part of. I am afraid I am going to break a rule. So mostly I just lurk

 

I felt very lonely in the hobby for many years! My mom got into BJDs which was wonderful, but she doesn't do much with them anymore. I remember one year, during Christmas, I actually made a wish to meet some BJD people whom I could talk with and share the hobby with. I think my wish was answered and you know how?
YOUTUBE! hahaha
Yes, Youtube has saved this hobby for me. There is a remarkable and extremely supportive and inspiring BJD community in Youtube land. I've made some really wonderful friends whom I can talk with and share ideas with and so much more. Being able to hear someone's voice or see their face, makes everything so much more intimate, it's almost like meeting someone in person. And we feed off of each other, we share our inspiration, our thoughts, our highs and lows and we all benefit and learn something from it. It's been really wonderful, I feel like I'm apart of something now. I don't think I would be where I am today in the hobby if the Youtube community didn't exist.

If there is anyone interested in trying out the Youtube community, please, feel free to send me a message and I would be more than happy to send you some really wonderful channel links - there are some incredible dolly people out there making videos!