With difficult breakups come valuable lessons. 

Well, it's certainly the case for Shakira who broke up with Gerard Piqué in June 2022 after 11 years together. While her ex has moved on with girlfriend Clara Chia Marti, Shakira says she is focused on being the best version of herself.

"I too believed that story, that a women needed a man to complete herself," she told journalist Enrique Acevedo on Mexican channel Canal Estrellas via translation Feb. 27. "I also had that dream to have a family where the kids had their mom and dad under the same roof. Not all of those dreams come true, but life has a way of compensating you in one way or another."

While her love story with Gerard came to an end, Shakira's bond with their children—Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8—is just beginning.

"I depend on myself and I have two kids that depend on me," she said. "And I need to be stronger than a lioness…That force needs to be real, it cannot be a façade."

Shakira added, "And it's a force that comes out of living in pain, frustration, life not turning out the way you expected, dreams that are ripped apart and having to pick up the pieces from the floor and putting yourself together again."

After more than a decade together, Shakira and Gerard announced their split in June 2022. In January, the singer released a new single, "BZRP Music Session #53," where she seemingly shaded her ex and his new girlfriend.

"I wish you good luck with my supposed replacement / I don't even know what happened to you," she sings. "You are so strange that I can't even distinguish you / I'm worth two of 22 [year old] / You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo / You traded a Rolex for a Casio."

When discussing the song in her latest interview, Shakira recalled the moment she shifted her thinking into what love and relationships can look like.

"I also believed in the fable that a woman needed a man because I have been emotionally dependent on men to be honest," she said. "And I feel that today, I'm enough. When a woman has to confront life's battles, she comes out stronger. And when you're stronger, it's because you've learned to properly understand your weaknesses, accept your humility, express what you feel, the pain.  Now, I feel complete." 

And more than a month after releasing her new collaboration with Argentine DJ Bizarrap, Shakira doesn't appear to have any regrets of expressing her emotions through music. After all, it could just remind listeners that they are not alone. 

"I use my voice and give it to those who can't use their voice," she said. "As Madeleine Albright said, and it's a phrase that I love, ‘There's a special place in hell for women that don't help others.' And yes, I'm in total agreement with that."