Reminds me I had few stuffed animals when little and two of them where important.
Small tabby cat toy and light brown grey turtle... Now I feel sad that those toys are gone.

Well I may have sold some of my old toys in your yard sales or donated them I know that out there is some child who is in need of a friend and I’m happy that those toys who were my friends when I was younger can now help someone else. And that warms my heart.

I also Agree with her

I support this, a million percent.

amen to that.

Got a whole corner of my room for stuffies.

You're never too old for your own personal Wozzle.

Are commissions open?

I strongly agree <3 I still have my teddy bear from back when i was a kid and he's still exposed on one of my shelves and he's still very important to me. I used to ALWAYS have him with me as a kid, i even still have family pictures were i was the only kid with a teddy in my arms. In fact, he's so important to me that i want to me buried with it :'3

*bows ta Wozzle*
Thank ya kindly Wozzle fer takin' such good care'a her that we've all grown ta love.. {:)

When I had suffered from insomnia and depression, I used to visit a psychiatrist. The first thing he told me, before even thinking about any meds, was to try and sleep with a big plush. And so I can confirm that plushies are for adults too, and they help.

I also have a plushy that is not bigger than my fist. I bring it everywhere in the house.
I always hold it close to me, like if I'm addicted to it.
When I was young, a doctor told my parents to NOT take it away from me or else I'll grow up being nuts.

I'm soon 30 and I'm not afraid to say that I have a stuffed animal as anti-depressant.
And oh my god that this work so perfectly!!!

Still have my Winnie the Pooh plushie I've had since I was a baby, and still sleep with it despite being 25.

I collect plushies too.

I 100% agree and support this. My plush fox, Cid, stays by my side every night, and when I'm having bad days ill take him around the apartment to keep me company. He's also well flown as I take him with me on fights and trips due to not enjoying the sensation of take off or landing.

I have an army of stuffed animals. They are my minions of darkness! *dramatic eldritch laugh*

Oh hi, this is me in a nutshell.

I didn't know PC and I were about the same age. And yeah, I don't know how I'd have gotten along without Kira and Shayde. I can't sleep without at least one of them, preferably both.

I'm over 40 now and I still travel with a worn down long-tailed Lynx companion named Sammy.
And at home he of course sleeps in my bed, along with a couple of his plushie friends.
But Sammy is special for me.
Tear soaker, nighttime guardian, voice of reason (usually ignored) and overall best plushie companion... but in real life and in artwork for my littlefur fursona.

And he'd like to meet you all, at least online:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/42155312/

Yeah, everyone need something as comfort zone. Its just sad if that comfort zone get destroyed by people you let getting close to it till the damage is irrevertably done. The belief in it got destroyed by logic and drowning speeches.

Its sad.

I have a 30+ year old plush bunny. he has been on my bed longer than I can remember. my aunt actualy unstuffed him, washed him three times, and then restuffed him for me recently. his first bath. she tightened up a few stitched for me and even repaired some spots that were starting to split. he will stay on my bed for many more years to come.

This is one of the sweetest, most positive things you've done. There is something so innocent and vulnerable about stuffed animals that get me real emotional. Happy to see their importance so eloquently explained.

Wozzle best friend!

I have plushies too. A goose, a big panda, a hyena, but most important is a fox named Jamie. I got him from my family a few years ago, he means incredibly lot to me. I always sleep with him and other plushies and now that I started a new job I plan on bringing him with me to work every day.

Honestly as someone suffering from a depression myself I couldn’t possibly have coped without the love and care I’ve been able to give to my own two plushies, Pao and Lumi. Having something to wake up to and by the end of the day tug into their own bed helps immensely, to feel like you matter to them and that with them in return your world can feel safe is a sensation that, while not able to mend all wounds is at the very least able to stave off more than you can possibly imagine. To everyone, those with similar issues and those without: Please cherish your stuffed companions and try to understand the emotional weight such a possession can hold for others.

You don't need to fix his eyes, but please sew up those other rips.. That sort of damage only gets worse and you'll be extra upset when his leg falls off or insides falls out.. :(
A few stitch-scars are worth a missing limb..

Got my plushies taken away around age 12 or so, maybe a bit earlier.. cannot remember very well.
Nowadays, almost 30 years old now, I own a few new plushies.. I specially cling a lot to my umbreon plush, and still sleep with him in my arms quite often.. helps a lot..

I am 41 years old...and still don't like to go to sleep without my plush either.
so NO JUDGING FROM ME!

Sometime, just looking at your art feels like some kind of equivalent to hugging a very warm and fluffy stuffed animal.

NO ONE keeps secrets, love and compassion for their friend like a beloved, personal companion that is a Woozle...
They'll never run out on you, never talk angry at you, never scold you or play mean tricks on you ( like my older brothers did.. hiding some of my toys in the light fixtures, and when I tried to get onto a chair and get them back, they'd enjoyed running over and shaking the chair..)
They'll always be there when you're sad and take great and wonderful pleasure in sharing laughter and joy..

don't throw them away just because you get older... cherish them and, if possible, SHOW your children that they are just as full, if not overflowing, with love and compassion and *HUGS of tenderness" as they were when YOU needed them so badly when it was you against a very very big world...
take special care of them and pass them on.. let them continue till they can't go any further.. and as long as they get lots of love to share along the way.. they'll last far longer then anyone else might think they will *soft smiles*

Wish I had someone like that

I really need to get my stuffies out of storage and bath them. I've neglected them for too long.

I have a plush bomb. really. A friend of mine who is making things stitched together came up with it. it looks like a classic bomb. it is black, round, has a little circle at the top, and has a big letter F on the side. it's an F-bomb. I look at it and smile. it was worth what I paid for it for that alone.

This is all very true! ~<3

#NormalizePlushiesForAdults! :D

Truth, PC!

My old Steiff teddy bear was taken when I was burglarized a few years back, (Honestly, who in the hell steals a teddy bear?) but hell, some kid will probably end up with him and get to love him, and some day I'll spot another one just like him and buy him. Won't be quite the same, of course, because what was really lost there was the sentimental value.

I've got a couple of other stuffed animals I've had for a pretty long time, and I'm sure I always will. And I'm an old dude. You're never too old for a few stuffed friends!

There is much wisdom in these words... Judgmental people are always going to be such, often because of they are projecting their own insecurities about how other people might view them doing something like this.

In the end most of them are just jealous that they can't be as comfortable with a softer side of themselves, like it's a sort of weakness. I don't believe that having a coping mechanism is the same thing as being weak.

If you got a plush at home to greet you at the end of a long day? Hug your stuffed buddy. It doesn't hurt anyone, least of all you.

I actually still have my very first teddy I got at my birth. I really use it or anything, it just sits there ontop of a shelf in my room. To me it is like a piece of history.

Here, you find a few pics of Diana, et al, being silly: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....626/Plush-toys

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40.....#cid:156515681

As I said here... T-Thank you.

I think you typo'd the word after 'food'. I don't think fabic is a word.

I cry to music and still have a blanket from my grandmother, I can't sleep without it.

Sorry, I don't have one stuffed animal. I have at least seventy! I love them all and they bring great comfort when nobody else can.

I still sleep with my old plush tucked under my arm :3 sometimes i'll bring one as something to cuddle while watching a movie in a theater! I agree it's not fair that older/more masculine people get judged hard for having plushies

Thank you for the tender advice. We all need comfort in our life sometimes.

i has my own... She helps me through tough times... and when my brain goes "Yea... no more big time... SMOL TIME.... grabs stuffie"

*has her own Wozzle, and mini travel wozzle on her backpack*

Well, this cheered me up. Thank you.

I support this 100%. As a grown woman in her 40s with both depression and anxiety, I also have a huge collection of stuffed critters. Some of them are from my childhood, or souvenirs of a place I've been or an important event. Some I got as gifts from friends or family and some I bought because they were just weird/unusual/exotic. They all have some kind of meaning to me, and there are some so special I would grab them when running out of a burning house.

So to those who would say stuffed animals are only for children, well, I'd have to say there are some qualities of childhood that are worth hanging on to.

This, me, so much. I legit cannot sleep without a stuffed animal, so much love my plushies. I definitely have those times that I need to just hug one to cope, I don't think its a bad thing at all. We might have fewer issues in the world if people stopped persecuting others for hugging plushies and just let us cope in our own ways, maybe they should try hugging a plush, might help them.

I love my stuffed animals and I absolutely agree with this!

Years ago, I got a tiger from the Princeton Tigers college basketball team. He's been one of my favorites ever since. :)

I'll never get rid of my stuffed plushies!

Well said and completely agree. Thank you!

I actually bring my Eevee plush everywhere with me. He has helped me with my depression so many times and I refuse to let him go. Because as I've told people; “he helps me. When I see his smile, even on bad days, it makes me smile.” I've stopped caring what people think of me, because he is my friend and I know he’ll help with my depression. It won't always be perfect help, but he tries.

You are so right, PC. Got a little plushie in my bed since '92.
A little beat up she said. I remeber one time where the little guy lost a arm thanks to her. But he endures everything.
There is even a song about the same topic. (Reinhard Mey, mein roter Bär. Unfortunately, german only.)

words of wisdom.
pussycat, i suggest you do patch him up at some point but with golden thread, like Kintsugi.
to care for something without suppressing it's past, in a way even enlightening it.

I am the same way! I love stuff animals and have so many, one I refuse to ever get rid of, a old small teddy bear who I named Teddy. I got her from my mom on Valentine's Day when I was 16, over 10 years ago. I was going through so much and was dealing with a very abusive boyfriend at the time, and Teddy made me feel better and safe. I love my teddy and will never get rid of her, even though she's old and worn down but oh well, she's very important to me, all my other plushies are important to me as well. I agree with all your points, stuff animals are a good comfort tool for so many of us. Unfortunately I don't have any of mine from when I was younger, but very glad I have so many now and my Teddy from when I was a teenager, and I'm in my late 20s. ❤️

I strongly agree with this. In fact, I actually have a collection of plushies right now.

i have autism so my stuffed animals are for comfort too and it's not to hear i'm not the only

person that still loves stuffed animals seeing i'm in my late 30's as well.

I'm agree too :3
i have stuffed animals since my birthday to now and after :P

He's a good companion, that Wozzle.

i have two Cave plush toys and i use them for emotional support too. Although they are quite mischievous with their talented photo poses, they are are also quite sweet. Or how about getting weird stares from hypocrites who use pets for emotional support. Ya go figure that. *gives them a nasty stare right back at them* Its like Hey! Why are you judging me when you are doing the same exact thing? *facepaws*

I can fully support this.

I have Aspergers, but even before my official diagnosis I saw my stuffed animals as something to keep me safe and to hug whenever I feel depressed or scared. I have a collection of plush friends now, and I try to keep them as clean as I can whenever I cuddle with one or more at bedtime. Honestly, I see stuffed animals as maybe extended members of the family of the person who owns them. But, that's just my opinion.

I admit I am in this boat....this boat and have a giant charizard plush in my room I tend to hug or fall asleep with when things get to be....to much or...let's just say families get to much.

i've a wolf plushie that helps me sleep. (from time to time have sleep paralysis, my plushie helps me sleep, kinda like a protective wolf) Her name is Flare.

Thank you

wholesome advice

Hanging in a net nearby is Jaguar my spotted friend my Material Grandpa won for me, and at the foot of my bed is a bear my paternal grandparents got for me. I also have some other plushies from my childhood. Some are passed on to others.

I agree with this completely.

I have never gotten rid of my childhood toys. They're still around.

I support this 100%
I have autism (Dyspraxia) though sometimes I suffer from depression from time to time due to personal things or even from lack of socialness. However I still have a couple of teddies from when I was a child and two of which are troll dolls in a design of the big top stilt walkers yet one of them is tatty due to me being a stupid kid by cutting his hat and hair whist the other was its feet.
Never the less I still cherish them to this day, even when reading this piece, I gave Baby (the tatty troll doll) a cuddle as I know he's always there to comfort me even in my most darkest of days whilst Mother (the other troll doll) will always keep watch over us.

*wishes didn't have to hide Wozzle collection*

I have one I use for hugging when I'm not visiting family. I'm currently living in a dorm situation for another 5 months though so didn't bring it with me here :|

That is very true. We all got something that brings comfort to use when the world seems to heavy on our shoulders.

this comic speaks what i have in mind for... 12 years now. only that my "wozzle" is a husky named yu (for yukimaru) . in the month of neurodiversity id like to mention all the other autistic people who have stuffed friends and cares a lot about them. keep loving them and give them the care they need in every aspect of life

Plushies are important indeed! Very good PSA, thank you PussyCat.

I still have some stuff animal(s)/plush(ies) from my youth that I wanted to keep now safe in storage.

I still have my plushy to this day. He is a rag doll teddy bear and his name is Mr. Bear! He used to be greenish with brown eyes, however over the years his green color faded into a mint color and his eyes have become very cloudy.

man i still have some and yeah talk to them and my figures that i have anything to stave off the messed up thoughts in my head and to get raid of the bad days

I used to have a dog that slept on my bed as in a real dog but I live in Africa and some people broke in to my house to rob me and killed my dog … I tried to save her but couldn’t … after washing her blood off me in the shower I decided I would never have another living thing so I had my stuffed animals that would sleep on my bed and I could talk to they meant a lot to me and I figured at least they can’t die but my house caught fire when I was on Holliday and they all burned I lost everything I had but only cried about them … I just tell myself they are with my imaginary friend now … I know I’m crazy …..I only have one now who’s special to me and I take her with me even when I travel cause I’m too scared to leave her at home I’m 27 so I get strange looks too but she is great comfort to me like you said especially being alone in the lockdown she’s been across the world from Mauritius to Iceland to Ibiza and she’s a unicorn with a broken horn

I keep coming back and looking at this, its still so very true, stuffed animals are tremendously important to the every day function to a lot of individuals myself included and well honestly I would love to introduce some of my closer friends to my own stuffed animal one day.

I have three plush on my windows. I do not hug them or touch them anymore but they are a comforting presence to see. They are there just in case thing would go really dark and I would need them.

I still have a plush teddy bear that my Grandma gave me when I was a baby puppy. I still have it now, at 18 years old. His name is Winston. I like having him on my bed for when I feel like crying, or when im stressed. He's always there for me to hug.

I used to have a stuffed dog, but I gave him to a kid my Mom was babysitting/looking after when I was younger. My thought process was that this dog helped me feel safe so I thought that the kid would feel safe with it too. Never saw the kid after but I hope they are doing well and that dog helped them feel happy. Also, I still have a stuffed snow leopard that I had since I was younger, I think.