Liberty.  We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Despite Mark Twain’s supposed lament (“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”), the weather is so regularly spectacular that often we take it for granted.  Outside, there’s beauty in every direction – the juxtaposition of mountains, the water and the parks and forests, especially at sunset is simply amazing.  Yet, we spend most of our days before the glow of a computer screen, under the fluorescent lights of a hospital room, or in a stupor in the semi-darkness of strobe lights with indecipherable noise splitting our eardrums.  We need to free ourselves of our physical and mental constraints and appreciate the beauty of the place we call home.  When was the last time you went to the Santa Cruz Mountains, Lake Tahoe or Yosemite?  Other than the Golden Gate Bridge, have you seen any other grand creations in the area such as the Hearst Castle, the new San Jose City Hall and the Sikh Gurdwara in San Jose just to name a few?  (If you’re wondering, the inside of the mall in the city does not count.)  I invite you to explore the beauty of the Bay Area and beyond free of constraints.

Happiness.  We are very fortunate in that most of us are highly educated, have good and successful careers and live in a beautiful place with world-class food and culture.  We have a lot to be thankful for.  But, are we genuinely happy or do we attempt to simulate happiness the modern way by flashing Bling, engaging in random hook-ups or worse.  Many of us have hundreds of Myspace friends but no one that we can go to in a time of need.  The question isn’t why we feel this way or why we engage in destructive behavior – these are just symptoms, and not merely symptoms of bad taste or judgment.  Rather, the question is what to do about it.  Well, I believe that if we live life to the fullest, free from routine and constraints, we will appreciate who and where we are.  Then and only then is happiness possible.  I invite you to try. 
    

I hope you now have an idea about this column because I certainly don’t.  I’m going to write about many different things and hope that you’ll join me.  The only rule I will follow is that I’m going to enjoy writing this column.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Raj Bagga, a recent refugee to the Bay Area, is currently an attorney focusing on patent and other complex litigation at Fish & Richardson. Previously he has been an engineer, a Naval Officer, a romantic, a buccaneer and an all-around rabble rouser. He has been involved in many organizations and activities generally involving youth, education or politics. He lives by two mottos: challenge authority and live life to the fullest.