However, these days, the Grammy winner—who shares sons Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8, with the former soccer star–is ready to put herself first. “There comes a time in the life of every woman where she no longer depends on someone else to love and accept herself just as she is,” she explained. “A time when the search for someone else is replaced by the search for oneself.”
She added, “A time when the desire to be perfect is replaced by the desire to be authentic, and where finding someone who is faithful is less important than being faithful to ourselves.”
And the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer’s music is for those who can relate to these experiences.
“The most important lessons I learned from other women, and for them I wrote what I wrote and I sang what I sang,” Shakira expressed, “Because only a woman can love until she’s ripped apart; can speak with the most brutal honesty; can sing with anger; dance in ecstasy and be brought to tears with emotion. Only a woman can do that.”
