LAND OAT MILK OF MANUKA AND HONEY
These are the first words I hear over morning granola and almond milk as I eavesdrop on the group of bankers – bad suits, gel-slicked hair – sitting nearest to me. “I feel like I’m in The Truman Show,” says another. It’s not hard to see his point.
Earlier, driving to the local inn for breakfast in my golf buggy, I passed through a picture-postcard landscape of bucolic Americana, complete with rolling pastures, horses and grandparents sitting on immaculate front porches. The sun was shining and the locals waved at me, even though I was a complete stranger. Without exception, everyone I passed appeared jubilantly, preternaturally happy. It was a far cry from my usual humdrum commute. I half-expected my buggy to crash into the horizon at any moment.
But this is not Seahaven Island, the counterfeit community created for Jim Carrey’s Truman Burbank. It is Serenbe, a “wellness community” 30 minutes south of Atlanta, Georgia. Its name a portmanteau of the words “serene being”, Serenbe first came to my attention through a story on the health website Well+Good. Though it was published alongside such hard-hitting pieces of journalism as “Why It’s Not Too Late to Set New Moon Intentions” and “Why Connecting With Your Inner Virgo Is Essential Right Now”, my curiosity was piqued.
“YOUR HEALTH IS TIED.TO WHERE YOU LIVE”
“IT CREEPY ’S KINDOF HERE, THINK DON’T ? YOU ”
The concept of Serenbe isn’t without
