My Happy Place

So this might sound a little weird, but my happy place is oddly specific. I think it started as a teenager, when I was getting increasingly busy - particularly my senior year of high school as I also went to college and worked far more hours than I really should have.

During the summer when I got a break from most of my busy-ness, after a morning or early afternoon shift at work I'd often snuggle up in my bed for a nap. The air conditioner would kick on, gently humming me to sleep, and I could nap without any worries about setting alarms or getting up on time for something else.

My happy place is curled up in my bed for a nap, without need for an alarm, and preferably with either the heat or air conditioning coming on to give me some white noise to fall asleep to. This has become my default reaction - when it's possible - to stress and strong emotion as well, since it seems like I always think clearer after my mind's been reset from an hour or two of sleeping (or maybe I'm just more well-rested and able to deal with it).

Safe in my room

When I was a kid, I grew up in a rural area, just down the road from a dairy farm.  Much of the land in the area belonged to the farm and was used for hayfields.  My house was surrounded by fields on all sides, and the fields furthest from the road were bordered by forest.  There was a tractor path leading through the forest, and beyond the first little stand it became a mixture of forest and fields.  From the age I was old enough to walk the path on my own, this was my happy place.  Whenever I just needed to get away from things, I would walk to the end of the path and back.  It was so familiar, and the fields and the forest were always so peaceful.  At the very end of the path and across the last of the hayfields, you came out at the ocean, and this was also a good place to be.  Along the way, off the path and into the woods, there was a stand of boulders, which is where I would take my journal to sit and write if that was what I needed to do.

A little over four years ago, we moved out of that house, and I've moved another six times after that, so I don't really have that kind of dedicated happy place any more.  Mostly now it's just my room, wherever that happens to be.  Even though the actual room, the furniture in it, the decorations, and everything else, have changed quite a bit, my room is always my sanctuary.  It has a door that can shut out the world, and a bed where I can either sleep my troubles away or curl up to lose myself in a book or a movie.

Other than that, just Halifax in general is kind of my happy place.  I used to hate the city, but now I just like to wander around and experience all the familiar sights and sounds and smells and watch all the interesting people.  I also have a few favourite stores and coffee shops that I like to go to and just hang out for hours even though I don't really want anything (especially used clothing stores and this bookstore (it looks like this)).