Artist Teresita Fernandez once said, You don’t need a lot of friends or curators or patrons or a huge following, just a few that really believe in you.

Many of my peers are very good at applications, in fact our society is very good at training us for applications. We have no problem getting into a prestigious program, conference, positions to take advantage of the perks of traveling, learning another language, meeting people from around the world and perhaps show off these achievements on our LinkedIn profile and Facebook timelines. But all of this are merely strategies to position ourselves for the next gig, the next big break, the next relocation– the glamor.

Recently, I felt empowered taking charge of my own art exhibition; I made curatorial decisions, planned my own social media postings, told my story about the individual artwork on the labels and prepared the entertainment programs during the opening. I felt empowered and happy because I get to do what I love, and my community from different circles came together to witness that. I have not felt that way since my wedding celebrations last year, when friends and families from all around the world came to celebrate my achievements: the choice of bridal dress, the best men and best ladies attires, the theme, the decorations, the colors, the food and most of all on getting married. Unsurprisingly, I find parallels between planning a wedding to celebrate love and planning an art exhibition to celebrate my other love that is Art–They all involved a bunch of people coming together. Save to say that this act of coming together is a common practice across professional fields and humanity.
Know that you have the power to reach out and form your new community. Know that you have the ability to identify people who are genuine, kind and equally as talented and like-minded as you (they might not be of the same professions) even though they may be hard to find at first. Know that people will come together and celebrate happy moments with you when you personally take charge and make a point to do that!