I realized that the reason my go to when someone is sad/ breaking down is to give them a hug. To just hold ‘em. I know now that it stems from my inner child being like “This person is breaking and I want to hold all their pieces together because I’m strong enough to, but only until they’re able to start picking up the pieces again. Even if they’re shakily picking them up, they’re doing it on their own despite all the pain. It’s all apart of their backstory.”
Of course I know one can’t hold it all forever but when someone’s world is crashing down you can help by acting as an invisible barrier to keep everything in their world inside that space. All the pieces they need remain contained. Ready to rebuild.