Part 1: Why “Life in Three Dimensions” changed how I see life

This series explores the three dimensions of a fulfilling life inspired by Shigehiro Oishi’s book Life in 3 Dimensions and my own experiences living in Japan, moving to the United States, and working between both cultures.

I listened to Life in 3 Dimensions for the first time during a morning walk in my Lafayette neighborhood. It was cool and quiet, the kind of morning where eucalyptus leaves crackle under your shoes and the hills look soft in the hazy light. I had expected a book about happiness, maybe something gentle and encouraging. Instead, I found myself listening to ideas that cut right to the center of something I have been thinking about for most of my life: the search for meaning.

Oishi writes that a good life is not one-dimensional. He explains that a life focused entirely on pleasure can feel shallow, and a life focused entirely on meaning can feel heavy. What adds depth is a third dimension he calls psychological richness. The moment I heard that, I slowed my pace. It felt like he was giving language to something I had sensed but never articulated.

My own path has never been tidy or linear. Meaning has always been my compass, guiding me toward work that feels purposeful. Eventually I found myself helping people and organizations navigate cultural complexity, and that felt like home in a way no geography ever had.

Years ago, moving to Japan was the moment psychological richness fully entered my life. Every interaction revealed a layer of nuance I had never encountered before. Some moments were exciting. Others were overwhelming. All of them were transformative. I learned how much can be communicated without words, how relationships are built over time, and how context often conveys more than any direct explanation.

Later, moving to the United States added another chapter of richness. This was not a return home. It was another entirely new cultural world, and one that challenged me in different ways. I carried everything I had learned in Japan and found myself applying it, questioning it, and adapting it all over again.

Listening to Oishi in Lafayette brought these threads together in a way I did not expect. Pleasure has been part of my life. Meaning has often driven me. But richness, the third dimension, has shaped me. It has been the silent thread running through every country, every decision, every transition.

By the time I reached my street again, I realized that the question I carried into the walk had shifted. It was no longer about finding more meaning. Instead, I began wondering how the three dimensions of pleasure, meaning, and richness work together to shape a life that feels whole.