Do you find BJDs calming?

The net effect of owning dolls does seem pretty calming to me. While BJDs are certainly a consuming passion for me, the energies I direct towards the hobby are constructive and redirect any sort of negative feelings I might have. So while I might have trouble sleeping at night because I'm thinking about repainting my doll or obsessing over the right wig, I don't mind at all. It's better than biting my nails down to nothing whilst fretting over other issues.

And also, it's just wonderful to come home to a sweet little thing like my boy. It makes my day a whole lot better.

 

Most definately. I was miserably sick about two weeks ago but I HAD to go to work since there was no one to take my place. Since I work as an assistant on a school bus transporting disabled children, I have several hours off in the middle of the day while the kids are in school, so I took Nicco in my bag, my warm fluffy blanket and a pillow and curled up on the couch. I was able to sleep fo clse to an hour with Nicco in my arms and woke up feeling a good 75% better!

He is so much my sweetheart in ways I'm unable to put into words, but somedays just knowing he's near by is all I need to get through the day.

 

Not in particular. I knit or read when I'm stressed out. I tend not to be very interested in my dolls when I'm stressed. And spending money on them just stresses me out MORE.

 

What a great topic - I definitly find them calming, also the making of one that I have started since buying my first three girls. Dressing them, doing a faceup or photographing them is lovely and calming perhaps because it focuses the mind on something interesting, beautiful and therefore soothing. But I can only do this at home and I travel a lot for my work - for example, I had an awful day at work today and am away from home and dont have my doll or making to take my mind off it - but browsing DOA helps a bit - thanks for the topic!

 

When I'm stressed out, I sit around a vegitate. Or else stay up into the wee hours of the morning. Dolls are nice to have arround, but I think I'm more likely to turn to animal/human/self companionship before I turn to a little resin fellow for it.

However, working on doll projects? Cleaning/sanding? That's a really calming activity for me, but doing anything with my hands tends to have that effect.

 

My dolls are extremely calming for me. I can spend lots of peaceful time puttering around with them, changing eyes and wigs, etc. Also, they help put things into focus for me. When I'm at work (I'm a waitress), and totally wanting to kill my customers, I can think - okay, only a few more dollars, and I can buy ... and it really helps me get through. (OT - Please tip your waitress 15% - 20%, especially if they are good!!!) In my stressful life, my dolls have kept me sane.

 

My dear chaps are very soothing to my soul.

 

Well, yes & no. Desperately saving for a doll stresses me out, dressing them when they're being uncooperative & sewing when I rip the same thing out 5 times are also not calming at all. But when the sewing is going along peacefully & I'm puttering around with them that's quite calming. It's like being in my own little world that captures all my attention & there's no room for the worries & troubles of real life.

 

Looking at them, thinking about them, about what would look good on them, playing, attending meetups.....But I think what's really calming to me is that I forget everything else when I'm with/thinking of them.

 

I take medication for chronic depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and borderline personality. And dolls are really a wonderful distraction, which you can't have too many of when your mind is stuck jaggedly replaying some horrible memory or insult or criticism. I can actually lose myself in setting up scenes where they are acting out a drama, filling out their characters, or even just paging through the array of shoes they can wear--shoes that I would never be able to wear in a million years, but they are lovely and perfect for dolls.

 

I think they are. I enjoy looking at them and just handling them. Its a really nice distraction, like other people said, for people with diseases.

I find thinking about them a little nervous and stressful though, especially with waiting on things to come in.

 

Yes, unless I'm lacking money and have to contemplate selling them. x:

 

Yes, I too find my dolls can be very calming. Although, as others have said, sometimes wanting to get more clothes and so on for them or falling for a new doll that I just cannot afford can be a bit stressful, the dolls themselves are a great source of pleasure and calm for me. I like to have them sit with me sometimes when I am working (happily I work from home so I can!) and their silent beauty offers peace and inspiration when I get bogged down.

The other day I was getting nervous and edgy waiting for a meeting I had to go to so I spent the time changing Claudia's outfit and she both distracted me and made me feel good. I went to the meeting feeling a great deal better.

Yay for dollies!

 

I definitely do. I like having Tae-Jun sit with me while I watch TV or play video games. I've noticed that sometimes I kinda pet his head, or rub his back, and it definitely feels calming. It's also nice to look around on doll sites and think about future dolls, how they will look, what they will wear, etc. I can kind of get lost in daydreaming about them! xD

 

Junior year, all students must take a series of tests spread over 3 days to pass highschool and help get into college. (not exams, those are later in the year Dx)

I just finished day one, and am currently fine. But when the test started *I'm usually very calm and collected* I started freaking out. I felt sick to my stomach and all that jazz. For some reason I started thinking about Kori and I was immediatly fine and was able to get through the rest of the test. (not sure if I did totally well though with my mind on dollies x3)

I don't know...just the thought of being able to play with him when I got home just had a soothing effect on my nerves...

 

BJDs are definitely an outlet for me. They can be cared for and customized. There are routines such as brushing wigs, cleaning dolls when they get dirty, changing clothes, restringing a new doll. In addition, my boy poses for my drawings and paintings. He's a very faithful model. ^^
So since they give both something to care for and an artistic outlet, I think BJDs have a very calming effect. Just like caring for plants or pets, or any form of artwork. Playing with Miles gives me much the same feeling as writing stories.
I really don't like being away from Miles. I'm going to Chicago fro a week tomorrow, and I can't convince my mom to let me bring him... so it's gonna be tough. I have separation anxiety, haha. *sigh*

 

Oh heck yes. Token is like..my "happy place". I just look over at him and pick him up and hold him in my arms and the stress and drama in my life just seem to melt away. I purchased Token at a time when I really needed something to "distract me" and he's managed so well to keep me sane over the past many months. Just changing his clothes or brushing his hair, writing about him, taking pictures of him, holding him. It all just makes the world seem a little be easier to tolerate.

 

Absolutely. My first, and so far only boy, came at an excellent time. I was heavily stressed out and my medication was really messing with my moods. So I would hold him, or pose him next to me, always making sure he wasn't bored and was keeping me company. I would look at his face, fuss a bit with his wig, stroke his leg- just do something and it would really work to calm me down and get me back to work.
And when I don't have him around and don't have anybody to keep me company? I day dream about his character and the world he lives in (its a short story I am working on at the moment when I have time and need a break from my other characters, haha) and make plans for the two other dolls I am currently saving for. Even if I don't have the funds, doll/marketplace browsing, wig shopping, clothes planning- it all works to help me relax and I really enjoy it.

 

I think my dolls definitely calm me down a lot. Aside from creating things for them and painting them, I also find just having them around calms me down a lot. I tend to work myself up into a panic about a lot of things, and sometimes I'll just pick up one of my dolls and hold them for a while, and force myself to think whatever's going on through slowly. While I know it's that slow rational thought that makes me calm down, I find the act of actually holding the doll mellows me out enough to start thinking. It's kind of like being a kid with a stuffed animal, it's just comforting.

 

Oh yes...playing with my dolls is very calming. Of course there are the tense moments when restringing them their string goes whipping back up to some inconvenient place in their body, but most of the time it is just time spent pleasurably. I think this hobby has had a beneficial physical effect on me, too.