“In a world where everyone seems to be larger and louder than yourself, it is very comforting to have a small, quiet companion” – Peter Gray

I believe in Teddy Bears. Not just that they exist, that’s obvious, but in their ability to heal, to quiet, to comfort. In the last three years, I’ve returned to my bears, gathering them from boxes, from shelves, and from my childhood home. In once case, I researched the type and brand of a particularly special bear, going by a handful of photos of my toddlerhood until I found one that looked just like the bear I had lost, and never forgotten. He has his own Instagram page that sports about 4 times the followers of my own.

Since finding Ted and bringing him home (and yes, I know he isn’t the exact one, but he sure feels like it), I’ve started to spend time with other old bears (and assorted plushie friends) fixing them up, doing some light surgery here and there, and generally tidying them up. Some of them are the precious companions of other people, some are forgotten and friendless. Those wait with me until I find the right person to send them to.

In this period of time, I’ve talked to numerous people who carry their stuffed animals around with them in adulthood and there are a few common threads when you ask them why. To begin, the stuffed animal reminds them of a more innocent time, when their cares weren’t as numerous. They provide some light escape- for children we would call this play- that allows them to let go of stress for awhile. Finally, some of them see their favorite friend as almost an extension of themselves- a real person they’ve talked to and poured their thoughts and feelings out to over the years- and that person has not judged them for any of it like so many “real” people do. I think of the last part as similar to the idea behind prayer shawls, which are made with a meditative and prayerful concentration in order to “infuse” the shawl with that energy/prayer/purpose.

“You really don’t have to be young to find a friend in a Teddy bear” – Rachel Newman

For myself, I would say I definitely recognize those reasons, but I also genuinely enjoy fixing them up. It’s a crafty experience, but one that requires you to look at the “personality” of the bear (or dog or pig or… shark) and come up with something new and fresh that also fits the style and feel of the individual stuffed animal. Sometimes I give them outfits, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes they just get a new bow and a pine cone or key for around their neck. Sometimes I make them a companion animal to carry around.

When I first started working on bears, I found an old Hermann Zotty style bear on etsy. She was marketed as “shabby chic” because her entire chin was destroyed, straw hanging out and she wore an oily blue pillbox hat over an earless head. I couldn’t save the hat, and I couldn’t save her chin, either. I’ve never- truth be known- been a huge fan of the “zotty” style, so this wasn’t a heartbreak for me. I try to not commit bear heresy by changing the actual design of the bear, but this was an easy sin to commit. She was in terrible condition, and I had decided she would stay in my little collection anyway. Gone was the chin. She also needed new paw felt, because all of her original felt was moth eaten. Poor Ethel. I did find a tiny bit of “close enough” plush (alas, she’s made of mohair) to give her new ears. Another heresy.

“Bears are just about the only toy that can lose just about everything and still maintain their dignity and worth.” -Samantha Armstrong

A couple weeks ago, a friend asked me a simple question about why people find such a connection to bears in particular- why, in fact, the bear- an apex predator- became the comforter of children in stuffed animal form. Well, there’s the obvious historical answer, but I think going deeper, as humans, we recognize something good in bears that we recognize in ourselves in ideal conditions. A casual look through popular fictional bears in any google search will give you an iconic and recognizable list of bears from Pooh to Iorek Byrnison (I want that one on my side, thanks). Pooh is a “bear of little brain”, but wholly good and true, and accidentally profound pretty much always. Going back further to legend and myth we find more stories. In Finnish legend, women were thought to be particularly close to bears, and it was thought that bears were trying to reincarnate through women. In Greek myth, Callisto is changed into a bear after being seduced by Zeus- although there are many different versions of the story, Callisto’s bit stays generally the same- she remains a bear and along with her son Arcas (also a bear) are cast into the sky as constellations. For more bears in myth, read here.

My little Ethel Bear is a work in progress. While her wounds have been healed, I still have plans for her that include inserting a new voice box (she came with a growler that no longer growls), and making her an outfit fit for the look she gives me as she eyes me from the shelf. She’s older than me, she’s seen some stuff.