My safe place is in my mind - a mental safe place called La La Land. La La Land is my mental musical safe place. There's a tree to sit under, fresh summer grass to sit on, white fluffy musical clouds to float and or sleep on, and a sort of stage area where my favorite country music singers sing my favorite songs.

I visited la la land so much as a child and an adult that my memories got separated and stored at the unconscious level, and then every time I visited la la land those memorys replay (ed) causing me to physically acting them out while mentally I was visiting la la land. This is called Dissociative Identity Disorder.

After 3 years of working with a great therapist I don't use la la land as an escape from my problems very often. Instead I am working on remembering those memories that were stored separate in my unconscious and learning new coping tools other than going into la la land to escape them.

These new coping tools include relaxing with imagry but also contain body awareness elements so that I remain physically and mentally connected to what is going on in the here.

Now instead of separating the mental aspects from the physical by use of imagry and imagination I use physically safe activities instead of mental safe places. For example taking a long bubble bath or taking a walk and noticing what is around me like watching and feeding the ducks behind my appartment complex, listening to relaxation music while playing a card game. They all have the same relaxing effect of taking a break on me that my la la land does.