Beyond Resistance
How Ikigai and Eudaimonia Can Help You Build a Life-Giving Path in Activism
Many activists enter movements with passion, urgency, and a sense of moral duty. The problems we face—climate collapse, systemic injustice, political oppression—are overwhelming. Activism often feels like an endless series of crises demanding immediate action.
We march, we protest, we resist. But over time, this reactionary approach can become exhausting.
Activism that is purely about resisting harm can feel like trying to hold back a tsunami. The more we fight, the more new injustices emerge. It can feel like we are running on fumes, constantly reacting but never building.
Without a clear sense of direction, many activists struggle with burnout, self-doubt, and a loss of purpose.
So, how do we engage with activism in a way that is sustainable, meaningful, and aligned with who we are?
To answer this, we can turn to two powerful philosophical frameworks: Ikigai (生き甲斐), the Japanese concept of purpose, and Eudaimonia (εὐδαιμονία) the Greek philosophy of flourishing.
Ikigai - finding meaning
The below has been adapted from “How to Find Joy in Climate Action” by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.
Ikigai is often translated as “a reason for being”—a source of deep purpose that brings both joy and fulfillment.
Unlike Western ideas of purpose that focus on career success or external achievements, Ikigai is about alignment—the feeling that what you do every day is connected to what matters most to you.
Ikigai is often visualized as the intersection of 4 key areas:
What You Love (Passion): What issues move you deeply? What could you talk about for hours without running out of things to say?
What You Are Good At (Vocation): What are your natural strengths? Are you a writer? A speaker? An event planner? A strategist? A healer? An artist?
What The World Needs (Mission): Where does your passion and skillset meet a pressing need in the world?
What Can Sustain You (Nutrition): What kind of activism can sustain you (and you can sustain) emotionally, spiritually, financially, and energetically?
When these four elements come together, activism stops feeling like a duty and starts to feel like a calling.
It becomes something that gives you energy rather than depleting you.
Ikigai is closely connected to several other Japanese cultural values, particularly:
Mono no aware (物の哀れ) – The appreciation of impermanence and fleeting beauty.
Wabi-sabi (侘び寂び) – Finding beauty in imperfection.
Shokunin spirit (職人精神) – Dedication to craftsmanship and mastery, no matter how small the task.
When I think about how these concepts relate to activism, I think about things like:
Looking for the helpers in every crisis. Finding and connecting with people who are helping and appreciating them for being there.
Appreciating and celebrating imperfect wins, even when we know for a fact it is not enough
Focusing on things within our direct control, and then expanding our influence
Ikigai reminds us that activism doesn’t have to fit a single mold. Your best contributions will come from aligning your activism with who you naturally are.
Eudaimonia - lifelong contribution
While Ikigai helps us find where we fit in activism, Eudaimonia helps us understand how to make activism a lifelong path of growth.
In ancient Greek philosophy, Eudaimonia is the highest form of wellbeing.
To understand this, we need to examine the difference between pleasure and fulfillment.
Hedonia – The pursuit of pleasure, comfort, and avoidance of pain.
Eudaimonia – The pursuit of meaning, virtue, and personal growth.
Aristotle argued that pleasure (hedonia) is fleeting, but a life of virtue and purpose (eudaimonia) leads to lasting fulfillment.
Importantly, we can see that avoidance of pain is not part of lasting fulfillment. It is possible to reach this highest form of wellbeing while also engaging deeply with the world’s suffering.
Eudaimonia teaches us that activism should not just be about fighting external battles, but also about cultivating internal values, for example:
Courage - standing firm in the face of injustice, even when the path is uncertain
Wisdom - understanding the deeper roots of oppression and making thoughtful, informed choices
Justice - committing to fairness, equity, and the well-being of all
Balance - making activism a life-long practice, not a short-term sacrifice
Eudaimonia challenges activists to see their work as a path of moral and intellectual growth in alignment with their values. The goal is not just to “win” political battles, but to live a life of integrity and contribution.
Instead of asking, “what am I fighting against?” we can ask, “what am I building?”
Instead of focusing only on winning battles, we can ask, “how can I strengthen myself in the process of this work, and move more into alignment with my values?”
When activism is grounded in Eudaimonia, it stops feeling like an endless struggle and starts to feel like a path of personal and collective transformation.
Building beyond resistance
Ikigai helps you identify where you belong in the movement. Eudaimonia ensures that your activism contributes to your long-term growth and integrity.
Together, they help shift activism:
from reaction to creation - from simply resisting harm to actively improving ourselves and our world.
from prediction to participation - from simply predicting the bad things that may happen in the future to participating in building the future we want to live in.
from depleting to nourishing - from something that takes our energy and feels like a task on the to-do list to something that we are excited to be part of.
When we integrate both Ikigai and Eudaimonia, activism is no longer just about putting out fires, it is about strengthening ourselves and our world at the same time.
