Reese Witherspoon Says She Keeps Busy to 'Feel Less Alone': 'I've Been Trying Really Hard to Find Balance'

"I'm a person who fills my schedule with busyness so that I feel less alone or less nervous or less unsettled," the actress revealed at Hello Sunshine's Inaugural Shine Away Event

Reese Witherspoon got vulnerable in a chat with Tracee Ellis Ross.

At Hello Sunshine's Shine Away Event on Saturday, the Legally Blonde actress, 47, and Black-ish star, 50, had a candid conversation, in which Witherspoon opened up about the real reason she likes to keep herself busy.

“I've been trying really hard to find balance outside of work,” she told Ross. “I'm a person who fills my schedule with busyness so that I feel less alone or less nervous or less unsettled. Work has always been my bomb. And I started to realize that isn't going to work for me.”

Related: Reese Witherspoon Says It’s Important to ‘Edit Your Friendships’: ‘Everybody Out There Over 40 Knows’

Witherspoon went on to say that “about a year ago” she “was a robot, and the robot broke.”

“I cried and cried. I think I texted you,” she said, fighting back tears, to which Ross replied: “I remember.”

The Hello Sunshine founder continued, “I did. I texted Tracee. I was like, ‘The robot broke.’"

"And [it] actually makes me feel very vulnerable sharing that with y'all," she added. "But I think it's important we hold up so much for so many.”

The Big Little Lies actress — who announced her split from ex-husband Jim Toth in March — went on to reference a poem written by her friend, Cleo Wade, about being “the glue in people’s lives.”

“Sometimes you are the glue in everybody's life, whether it's at work or being a mom or being a partner, but who is holding you together?” Witherspoon asked. “It's really important to remember that you have to be the glue that holds yourself together.”

When she first read the poem, she said she “burst into tears, because I didn't feel like I was taking very good care of myself, and I wasn't asking other people for help.”

Related: Reese Witherspoon Gets Candid About Her Divorce from Jim Toth: 'It’s a Vulnerable Time for Me'

During a different panel discussion at the Shine Away event, Witherspoon opened up about something a little lighter — what kind of stories she prefers to tell in her work.

The actress and producer said she has always been "obsessed with comedy and things were light and optimistic.”

"I came to this realization, and I'm sure you guys are going to find this shocking: I'm not meant to be doing dark, heavy, intense, heavy horror, gore, darkness movies," she said. "People like to see me do light movies.”

Witherspoon — who has played dark, serious roles (Election, Wild) and portrayed rom-com royalty (Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama) — acknowledged that her preference for creating “light” films may not earn her a spot in the “cool kid club,” but that does not bother her.

“I don't care. I don't want to be in the cool kid club. I really don't," she said. "I want to make optimistic stuff that makes girls excited to be women in this world because it is a wonderful thing to be a woman in this world."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Elsewhere during the conversation, panelist Jennifer Garner reflected on her strong friendship with Witherspoon, and recalled that the Election star helped her while she was "going through a very public, very hard moment in my life" during a pregnancy.

Garner, 51, did not specify the “hard moment” she was referring to, but she did share her and Witherspoon's experiences working out together, which she said helped her during that difficult time.

"[Reese] was right there and the way I needed to get through it was dance cardio," Garner said. "And I danced cardio-d so hard, we broke her foot, but she kept going! It was like, ‘Okay, we worked out at seven on vacation, we're going to work out again at two. She was like, ‘I'm going to be there. I'm going to be there.'”

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.