Don't Worry, Be Happy

[lydy]

I was recently reminded of "Worry People."  I think they were...kind of a thing in the 80s, maybe?  I'm pretty sure the set I had came from Mexico.  There was a little bag of brightly colored cloth, and inside were eight or ten stick figures in brightly colored clothes.  There was a little piece of paper that came with them, attesting to this being an ancient tradition, or something.  The instructions said that right before bed, one should assign each Worry Person a particular worry that you had, and then put it in the bag, then tie the bag shut.  The Worry People would then worry for you while you slept.  

I did try this.  But as I tried to go to sleep, I worried -- you guessed it -- about the Worry People.  Had I assigned the correct worries?  Had I forgotten a worry to assign to one of the people?  Were the Worry People worrying properly?  Should I have assigned the worry about paying the rent to the chap in the blue trousers, rather than the girl in the red skirt?  Would the Worry Person all dressed in yellow have been better at worrying about losing my job than the one in green?  Did they like to worry?  Were they ok?  If I forgot to take them out of the bag in the morning, would they worry all day, as well?  And if they did, and I also worried, was that more efficient, or was it somehow a bad thing?  Was I abusing the Worry People if I forgot to tell them to take a break?  Could they take breaks?  Should I give them rotating days off?  What if they rebelled, and started worrying about things they weren't assigned to worry about?  

I stopped using the Worry People.  And I have since lost them.  Wherever they are, I hope they are ok, and not worried.

Comments

[naomikritzer]

I had these but they came in a box:

https://turtleislandimports.com/product/worry-dolls-in-a-box/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA38jRBRCQARIsACEqIesAy314kiywf9FPVNg1QBpcQHQIcYQj7GtQPKHvSYQdFy_fkBAS_WQaAtKiEALw_wcB

I did not find them useful, either.

[lydy]

Those are they!!! The very ones. Did you worry about them, too?

[naomikritzer]

I tended to forget to use them. Partly this was absent-mindedness, partly self-consciousness. I felt guilty and worried that the dolls felt rejected.

[bibliofile]

Yes, those! Guatemalan, in a box.

I never used mine. I usually feel far too self-conscious doing stuff like that, even when I'm the only one in the house.

[pameladean]

I had never heard of Worry People before I read this post, but since I worry about my own characters if I leave off writing at an awkward bit for them, I don't think I'd have found the Worry People very helpful either. I mean, I STILL worry, if I'm very tired, about the little figurines on the mantelpiece. Are they bored in the same position all the time? Do they actually like the other figurines I gave them to hang out with?

With some people, just don't get us started, that's all.

P.

[mrissa]

I am hoping that writing an 11-year-old necromancer who is worried about her ghosts in this sense (not in the sense that they will do something bad, in the are they okay where I've left them sense) will help me with this tendency, but I fear the worst.

Still there she is so here I am.

[princessofgeeks]

I knew them as Trouble Dolls.

[haertstitch]

I know them as worry dolls
I had a batch of them from the mexican village at the state fair

the trick was you were supposed to have no more worries than the 7 or 5 dolls.
you'd have to prioritize and choose over worries(i was good at worrying)
If fewer problems say one big worry I'd have them do it all together.
I was a strong beleiver in community action

the part I couldn't figure out was how such tiny folk
would take care fo such huge problems.
but I think talking thru the problem or worry
was half of figuring it out while I slept on it.

kachina dolls have the same task
but they are gods and much more power to pull on

the books by "http://mterrygreen.com/"
have some serious kick ass kachinas.

[chomiji]

"Wherever they are, I hope they are ok, and not worried."

♥ ♥ ♥