Community Building through Joy Practice

Mirirai Sithole is an actor by trade, a writer by necessity, and a community builder by practice. She was born in Zimbabwe, reared in Massachusetts, and she is currently based out of New York; a place that is rapidly feeling more and more like home.

Mirirai attended Adelphi University where she majored in Theatre in the College of Arts and Sciences and minored in Human Resources from the Robert B. Willumstad school of Business. She believes that everyone is an artist of some kind and to live is to experience the artful beauty of life. Mirirai has always found joy and purpose in telling stories through various mediums and/or facilitating the creation of other people's narratives and that is why the term #JoyPractice is a major part of the AYE DEFY mission. Mirirai's goal is to empower people -herself included - to actively participate and practice small acts of joy with friends and strangers alike. To sustain the constantly shifting energies of our world, we must give time and credence to love, laughs, and joy!

Now that sounds so HAPPY; for the most part, Mirirai would say that she is an extremely grateful and happy artist. But she is no stranger to the inherent ups and downs of life. After a definitive relationship in her life ended, she turned to writing, Instagram, and self-care practices to help her get through. She soon began quietly posting a few of her thoughts and musings from the handle @LifeAfterBefore (now @AyeDefy). With the help of Human Connection Specialist Mark Groves and MOTU Summit, Mirirai slowly began to find strength, understanding, and empowerment in her own writing and stopped being so afraid of sharing her truth through words. Cut to Mirirai wanting to speak positively from a place not directly linked to a past romantic relationship but rather a place of relationship to self and going beyond any and all expectations. Cut to...

AYE DEFY is the heart and soul of how Mirirai wants to continue to share herself as a human and an artist. AYE DEFY will continually ask questions and hopefully offer solutions about and for equity, inclusion, and empowerment within artist communities of all kinds, as well as the larger local and global communities we are all a part of. AYE DEFY aims to ask what it means to be an Artist-as-Citizen and how do we defy how we are expected to function as entertainers who are also engaged citizens. Welcome to this space; There is room for all.

Photo by Deborah Lopez