What role do dolls play in your life?

I'm another one that's been a doll person for my whole life. Started with Barbie, Tonner, MH, Pullip....it was a natural progression to BJDs when I had my own adult money to spend. I call mine my mini-therapists....when I'm having a bad day I like to just go in the doll space, sit on the floor, and distract myself with wardrobe/wig/eye changes and it always makes me feel better for at least a little while. I can spend literally HOURS just on the floor with something playing on my laptop and doll clothes and sundries just scattered around, lol. My daughter will bring her basket of Barbies and sit with me and we'll have the best time.

 

For me my dolls hold all the negative emotions and pain i have and i store it in them when I focus on buying a doll. If I can't buy the doll that I focused on then the floodgates open and all the pain I was avoiding comes to the forefront. I start feeling all the pain all at once that it feels like my heart is going to burst from the negative feelings that come flooding pass the dam (the doll is the dam) all at once that I feel like I'm drowning. The doll is like a temporary bandaid for me. It keeps me glued together so i don't hurt so badly. Without the doll I focused all my time on I start feeling the suffering.

 

I guess you can say that I never grew out of dolls! My BJD's are a creative outlet for me. I like to dress them up and take pictures of them while using props. I even write stories for them! I haven't been very active lately due to chronic pain and stuff. Right now, I keep them in their boxes. I hope to be more active in the hobby again soon!

 

They're partly storytelling device, and partly self-expression. With storytelling, I shell characters in my dolls and create detailed worldbuilding and backstory for them that's constantly evolving. I love using them to tell stories, explore character growth and relationships, though my photoshoots tend to be less narrative and more figurative.

But they're more than that too... I recently showed my BJD Instagram to an older relative who knew me well, and they immediately observed that all my dolls look like me. They couldn't define how or what they saw, only that my crew all look harmonious together and each doll resembled me somehow, regardless of gender or size or clothing style.

I've been aware that my dolls are more than just pretty toys or storytelling devices for me, and are more like forms of physical self-expression. I'm sure they (or their characters) are extensions of my ideals, dreams, desires. So it's interesting that this relative noticed right away that they are linked to my self-identity.

 

Physical manifestations of my favorite characters from the book I'm never actually going to write. It's been years since I've worked on it (or written anything, or drawn anything for that matter...) and I've made peace with it but I like having the dolls so at least they exist in some form.

Except for the two who are from Undertale. I just like them as a cool part of my Undertale collection.

 

Dolls are fascinating in how they represent different aspects of human creativity and culture over the centuries. They're like tiny ambassadors of our imagination, carrying stories, traditions, savoir-faire, and a touch of our own childhood nostalgia. Ever since I was a small child, dolls were my faithful confidentes never letting me down. As an adult, dolls are a catalyst of my creativity

 

My dolls have gotten me into two things in my life that I consider big. My Barbies got me into crafting and sewing miniatures and as of recently, they are slowly becoming stars on my YouTube channel. My first handmade Barbie dress was made with one of my Barbies as the model. My first stop-motion animation on my YouTube channel was made with four Barbies, two being the main characters, and my first BJD, a 3D printed anthropomorphic bunny. My dolls to me are stars and helpers, making me appreciate them a bit more.