It is not mine to keep

I wrote this after sitting with a woman who was carrying so much... so many thoughts, feelings, and pieces of her life that felt like they were holding her back from letting go.

In that quiet space, I told her she didn’t have to take it with her, she could give it to me, and I would hold it for her. And she did. In releasing it, she found peace… and soon after, she let go, taking her final breath with a sense of ease I could feel in the room.

But then I found myself holding what she had given me, and I knew it was not mine to keep. So I did what I often do when something needs to be released, I honored it, and then I too let it go, with the same intention of peace.

This poem is a reminder that we are not meant to carry what we hold for others. We are the temporary keepers of what is shared with us… and we, too, must let it go

It is not mine to keep

By Gabby Jimenez

I will take what you share with me,

holding it all with care.

I am a safe place

for what you have carried alone,

for the pieces that feel too heavy

to take with you.

I will keep them with me

for a while,

so you don’t have to hold them

any longer.

And I will remember,

that I am only the temporary holder

of what is most sacred to you.

When the time comes,

when your last breath has been taken,

I will let it go.

Because it is not mine to keep,

only mine to carry

for a little while.

Not because it didn’t matter,

but because it did.

xo

Gabby