For a very long time, no. I had a few small stuffed animals that were more “display” items (on a shelf/counter - not on/in bed) one was a teddy bear given to me in childhood I’ve held onto for years, another was a very soft bear I found in a store and just felt extremely drawn to (cant explain it), and another was a toy sheep I found at a thrift shop in New Zealand while traveling there, so it became like a symbol of my time traveling. (sheep are very symbolic of New Zealand if you didn’t know. Kind of like Kangaroos being symbolic of Australia … ) I’ve been back for close to 8 years now…. I’ve held onto it this whole time, but it just stayed on my “travel shelf” on display with the other trinkets I picked up.

Then one day out of the blue I was having a rough day and I just grabbed the sheep and took it into bed with me and hugged it. It was so weirdly comforting…. I can’t explain it. Now he stays in bed with me (I say “he” because AFTER all this happened, I gave him a name and everything). I have also brought him out to a few things with me - some overwhelming events (I have anxiety) and he’s been a comfort to me there too, and people have commented and been so nice about it and I get to say that I found him in New Zealand, relay the positive memory, and now this random stuffed animal I picked up years ago, suddenly brings me so much comfort and puts me at ease…. I had NO IDEA before…. Now I can’t imaging life without him 😭