Last year’s Virtual Artist Cooperative was a bit of an experiment. We did our best to make everything work, but as it was our first virtual experience things were difficult to handle a few times. However, the final result was a complete success and we realized that our adapting abilities were more powerful than we thought.
When we finished the Virtual Artist Cooperative of 2020, we all hoped that this year we would be able to have a Summit as we were used to, but it wasn’t possible… so there we were again, connecting our voices and minds from our houses, in different parts of the world, with different times zones and temperatures, and with our busy schedules. Fortunately, and thanks to everyone’s hard work and dedication, things were easier this time. Despite the fact of knowing how great Breaking Walls is and all the people who are part of this organization that I call my global family, it still surprises me the way we share our world visions, how we help each other to grow and shine together, and how we connect, create and change being far away, and, in some cases, without even having met some of our fellows in person.
During this Virtual Cooperative, I wasn’t a Breaking Walls artist, which is what I have been doing since 2018, this time I was a leadership apprentice. It was a big challenge for me. In the Leadership Training Course, Dannie and Christian guided us through a creative journey where we were able to reflect and work on our personal development. We talked about our time management, what we are afraid of, how we face and solve problems, and what we think we can give to Breaking Walls as future ambassadors. I couldn’t be more grateful for having the opportunity to work with so amazing and inspiring people. Every day I ended up feeling so encouraged and wanting to keep sharing with my group, and as usual, it felt like there was never enough time.
Breaking Walls always arrive when I need it the most: when I’m feeling overwhelmed about my academic life, when I’m starting to feel tired and frustrated, or when I’m just not motivated anymore; and this year was no exception. One more time, Breaking Walls appeared to save me. I remembered what matters the most to me and I reconnected with myself. Being part of this global family is always an enriching experience and I will never have enough words to describe how wonderful it is.
Claudia Leiva Pérez