Seascamp,
Berkeley is a location where people do try new methods of gaining personal understanding of their lives through medicinal drugs, yoga, herbal remedies, religion and other far out ways of tapping into the spirituality and emotions. As you said, they are the judges of their lives. I thought it to be rather funny and ridiculous for women in their mid life to finally have tapped into their sensuality. The kinder side of me says, "Who cares whatever makes them happy." So you are right, whatever makes them happy is what counts.
I'm not sure if you'd like Berkeley these days. If you get a chance during your stay, I suggest visiting San Francisco. San Francisco has a little of everything art museums, exploratorium, Golden Gate Park, Japanese Tea Garden, SF Zoo, Fisherman's Warf, China Town and more. There's too much to see in one weekend, but you'd enjoy the city.