That distinction between boundaries and walls is one of the most clarifying distinctions in relationships. A boundary is a container you can still speak through. A wall is silence where a voice used to be. When people are overwhelmed they often throw up walls by accident, mistaking them for boundaries, because thin capacity makes everything feel like self-defense. You're right about the clock. Overwhelm compresses time or stretches it depending on the hour. The weight is what you carry, not the duration. And naming capacity out loud works because it transforms something vague and scary into something finite and survivable. This much I can give and stay kind. That number is almost always smaller than the other person hopes for and bigger than the overwhelmed person believes they have left. Saying it aloud does both sides the favor of reality.