Imaginary friends...

So...first off I don't want anyone to misunderstand what I am describing. This has nothing to do with alters, and I know these "people" aren't real when I imagine them. But imagining them makes me feel good.

Does anyone else have imaginary friends? Many times when I am feeling nervous or overwhelmed, I turn on my music and imagine the singers/musicians are my friends walking with me/serenading me, etc. Or trying to make me feel better by singing to me. I imagine them outside myself talking to me, giving me a hug, or whatever.

No I'm not hallucinating, just letting my imagination run wild I guess. I start to act little and literally react to them(smiling, even waving to them if I'm by myself). I used to pretend all the time when I was little, and I do this now too I guess, though this didn't start up again till this year. But I promise I do know they aren't real when I do this.
This is super weird but ...I'm wondering if anyone else does this!

I do. Why not? You use imagination to set up an improved emotional state. A lot of relaxation techniques work like that. As long as we are the autonome authors of our stories, as long as we are able to tell facts from fiction, as long as we are not addicted to a habit that got out of hand...
It is infantile tho. A compensatory game. Can we play our games like children and change our real conditions like adults at the same time? Hope so.

Yes, when I was little. My imaginary friend was a tangerine tree in an abandoned grove. It was a real tree, but I personified it. Playing pretend really.
I would run out to my friend, tell 'him' what had happened that day, I imagined the gentle sway of the branches in the wind was 'him' rocking me like a mom would have, I ate the tangerines all day, it ruined my teeth, but hey. It was the only think to eat at times. It devastated me when a frost killed 'him', I felt I had lost a friend. I did replace 'him' with a swamp cherry tree, but I think the berries were poisonous. Then 'he' was chopped down for a road. I *think* I stopped bonding to trees after that.
To this day, I will get this weird pain in my chest, it's like a feeling for something but it hurts, like an ache, the only way I could make that pain/feeling go away was if I drinked orange juice. I know weird.