Odd question: ... An extention of you...

Not in that sense, but she is an extension of me in that she's a manifestation of my tastes. I've got diverse tastes and I can't wear every style that attracts me and I cant change my hair style every week or my eye colour but I can express this sort of thing through my doll, she's an outlet for style ideas that dont fit with my image.
I do respond to her differently to other objects though, I suppose. I desperately need to tidy the house but it's not bugging me like the fact I also need to re-blush and faceup my doll. I feel the same way about going out without my makeup on as I do about leaving her in a less than pristine state. There re other objects I handle every day and consider an extension of myself, like my favourite handbag but I could stash them away and not miss them like I'd miss seeing my doll up there on her shelf everyday.

 

sort of. My beloved Emmaline has a very serene and calming effect on me, i'm always a little bit comforted just seeing her and knowing she is there. i've had her away getting a new faceup for the last 2 weeks and i definately can feel a, shall we say, Emmaline-sized hole in my heart

 

In a way, like disco biscuit said, my Elliot is a "manifestation of my tastes" but it's not that I get antsy when she isn't around, but I do miss her. Right now I'm in vacation without her an I do somewhat miss her, she's fun to have around, but she isn't a part of me I would say. Honestly, if I spent enough time away from her, I would stop thinking about it. That's kind of human nature. If you always have them out, when you put them away for a while, it's going to feel like that empty corner in the room.

 

Yes in a way, because I've put so much of my own energy and effort into them--that's what makes them so special to me, and though their characters tend to differ quite a bit from myself, they're still representative of me in terms of my tastes, interests, particular times in my life, and in the way they inspire me creatively. I do like having them around, and I would miss anyone that wasn't here. I'm attached to them in a way that I'm not attached other things that I own.

 

I feel this way about several objects.
My BJD, My sewing machine, my hat, and even a Ken doll I have (tried to put him away when I got my BJD, but it didn't stick more than an hour).
I would be very unhappy if something were to separate me from these things.

 

Yes.

Not only would I not feel at home in an environment where I could not see my dolls, I would feel like Sweeney Todd without his set of razors.

 

How can I go into this without sounding koo koo for cocoa puffs

The doll I am getting (the female one at least) is a part of myself but not in the usual way. She is based off a character who is in turn based off a woman. Whom I have never met, whose name is not recorded in history, but she has had a major impact on my life...


That is because she is me.... well... was... me..... a former incarnation who lived a short beautiful life whose days were cut unfairly short. She was kind and gentle and beautiful, a wise woman in the old sense. I do this to honor her. Her gentle soul and beauty that is now a part of me. living as a shadow and echo in my soul, her memories mingling with my own yet seperate. Her time was too short so for a long time I have saught to imortalize her in one form or another that she may live on in some tangible form.

 

No. Never. Don't see it happening in the future, either. They're just dolls or character shells, and while the characters mean something to me, I don't consider them to be part of me. Dolls are the last thing on my list, honestly, of things I love. I consider my horse as an extension of me, or my camera to the extent it becomes secondary eyes/memory... but yeah, not feelin' it at all when it comes to the dolls.

 

My first one is only an extension of me in that he's an expression of my tastes. My next one is going to be much more like me and though Zin is my first doll and the tastiest piece of resin eye candy I could want, the next is probably going to be my comfort doll like you've got. As though I know what I'm saying, I don't even have him yet XD

But yeah, I can see how one would be that attached. I get really angsty and I can't sleep if I don't have my plush penguin. YES I'm a 22 year old guy and I can't sleep without my penguin shhhhh.... But you invest so much love into something like that, it makes sense.

 

OOh! I love this topic, as an Artist and a Psych enthusiast.

Firstly, perhaps they are part of you as an expression: A doll, as an object of art that you've invested time and emotion in, becomes kind of like a security object (bear or blanket) you might have had as a child, or a lucky token or favorite ring you wear at all times as an adult. It's part of your self expression, and therefore in a way it's part of you. Without it you might sometimes feel lessened.

It may also be that there is the value of familiarity to it. Just this week I was staying in my parent's home helping to watch my little sisters while my parents are on a trip. (I'm a grown-up now, so I don't live with them, and the house they have now is not the one I grew up in.) For the first few days I felt very frazzled by the relatively unfamiliar environment, being very sensitive to that kind of change in my routines.
Then I went back to my house to get my laundry done, and I brought two of my dolls with me to my parent's house. Immediately I felt less upset. I did a bit of a photoshoot with one doll in the lovely house my family owns, and the other, my beloved Puki, stayed on the bedside table and when I couldn't sleep there she was, with her familiar wise smile. I was able to relax, and smile and talk with my sisters more, and I slept better at night having something of my own there with me.

 

I see my dolls as an extention of myself in that I choose clothes, wigs etc that I like and would wear myself. One in particular emulates me when I was younger and a goth. I don't feel any physical connection to them however.

 

While mine aren't here, I know that at least one of them will probably feel like that. Considering that she is going to be a character that I had created years ago and is really kind of "me" in a fantasy setting, she is an extension of myself. The character is the representation of all the boldness I wish I had, or that I have but that I never show people. So in that sense, seeing her brought to life will probably make the doll a bit of an extension of myself. She'll get to express tastes that I have that I can't express in normal society (medieval dress, demeanor, etc.), as will my other dolls, and that means that a part of me goes into them.

I feel like this was rambling, and I didn't make a lot of sense, but on the off chance I did, there you go. XD

 

this isn't the case for me at all... I love my dollboy but I try not to get this attached to any object. Honestly the biggest thing I feel "lost" without is my wristwatch xD But it could be any wristwatch.

It makes more sense in the case of the swordsmen, because those represent their entire livelihood and their ability to survive... Unless you're a dollmaker for a living (though even then, not the same since you are just making dolls, not doing many things with one single one like a swordsman and his single sword), dolls don't really have any influence on one's ability to survive in this world. Maybe on a psychological level for some, but on a physical level as with the sword, no. For a swordsman, that sword represents everything the person has strived for their entire life. But I dont think that is the case with doll owners. Just because you save up from working to buy a doll, it isn't really a dedication of your life to that thing like a swordsman.

The closest thing I could see matching this IS a dollmaker, who makes and keeps the very first doll they ever successfully completed. Then that doll would stand for MUCH more... than the dolls we buy from others.

This has little to do with whether you feel it as a comfort object, because that's rather different entirely, and something that grows out of "sharing" many experiences with that doll..

Anyway just my two cents on that analogy.

 

I have to say I have felt that way many time with my dolls. This basically stems from the fact that I have poured the souls of my characters in them, and my characters mean more to me than nearly anything else in the world. Why? Because they are mine. It is the one thing that I can keep near me, no matter what. I have never had to pack my dolls away for moving or anything yet, but I am sure I would feel much the same way as you did dear.

 

Lol, I have not bought my first doll as yet--am still in the browsing/dreaming stage, but I had to laugh at your doll's name: It's my "given" name (spelt the same way too), and I rarely see it/hear it anywhere! It made me smile to read your comment... I hope when I have my dolls I will feel that way about them!

 

I don't think I'm quite attached to mah dolls as some people.
Though, sometimes I wish I were. And by attached I mean, like complete bonding, with the whole anxiety when you're away from your doll, etc, etc. XD
My dolls are characters I created. Models for me to work with in order to make their character perfect!
But I do feel that in some way they are like an extension of myself. Especially my girl Citlali!
When I first got Citlali I really had no idea what she would be like, I only had ideas and such. I didn't even have her story figured out. But once I got her, it was like insta ideas. I figured out her personality, her general story. It was crazeh. She gave me the general idea of a new story, making me want to write again.
Then today! I was watching something about numerology, so I would randomly add things together. Lol.
When I realize that if you add my birthday month, 11, together (1 + 1), and the day 24 ( 2 + 4), it equals Citlali's b-day...
February 6th! The day she arrived at mah door step! I found that so weird. But so fitting at the same time.
'Cause, she is a lot like me. Haha. XD
So yeah. In some way, they are an extension of me.

 

I won't say an extension of me but they are my inspiration, muse and my comfort. I keep them in a room that is the least busy in the house on a shelf that I remade up into a dollhouse and I just can into the next room to look at them or make poses etc. I look at them and can almost always smile (literally or internally ^^)

 

I used to get like that with things )all sorts) now I don't for some reason
I've only had dolls in the last few months so its long been gone since
I had a puppet when I was younger...
what a little...I shant say the word :P