A new year begins, and it is normal to take personal stock of the things we have, inside and outside ourselves, not only to get rid of the old and useless and keep what is useful and good, but also to walk with lighter baggage and feel that, just like a leaf carried by the breeze and dancing in mid-flight, life is an adventure worth living.

Personally, I have been doing this tidying up, this general and prudent cleaning, inside and outside myself for some time now. Perhaps the easiest things to weigh up are the visible ones, those that we can see and that we can get rid of simply by throwing them away, giving them away, or disposing of them. For example, as I have said before, every year I give my closet a thorough cleaning, leaving only what is useful for the moment. I give away clothes and shoes that I haven't used in a year. That's the measure: if I haven't used it in a year, it's because I'm not going to use it. The best part is that other people benefit from this cleaning.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about all this is that you realize that objects, material things, come and go. They don't belong to you, and therefore, you don't belong to them. You learn detachment, not to suffer for what you have and what you don't have. You understand that what matters is human beings, how they make us feel, and not what they have.

The big problem lies in that spiritual, internal cleansing that you must do, even if it hurts, not only because you don't know how many things you have repressed, but also because you may even hide them yourself. Obviously, it's easier to remove a piece of furniture from your life than a person, but perhaps removing a person is more necessary and healthier. That's why this year, first out of inertia and then deliberately, I stopped visiting certain people and spending time with them. I felt that, just as when there is something contaminating, you have to walk away, I distanced myself from those people who were not good for me.

I also cleared out some pent-up feelings, some of them painful and sad, and replaced them with calm and peace, which are good for starting the year. Last year, I still felt a lot of pain over the death of my nephew, a lot of anger. But at one point, I realized that those feelings were wearing me down, so I let go and accepted it, and that gave way to an unimaginable tranquility. So, I clung to gratitude, I made patience, inspiration, and desire my own.

Of course, there are still many things to remove, many branches to prune, but the work is being done. Right now, my country, Venezuela, is going through a pivotal moment in our history. This event will surely bring other ways of thinking and adjusting, letting go and holding on. For now, I am gratitude, I am faith, I am hope. Nothing else.