Happy almost-New Year!

The new year always seems to arrive to us at Uncage the Soul about 25% planned, the rest an unexpected adventure. Sure it’s a tad uncomfortable, not knowing how the months ahead will shake out (or how the bills will be paid …), but the truth is we love the exhilaration of not knowing exactly what’s ahead on the trail, or better still, what discoveries await when there is no trail at all! 

We went in to 2018 knowing a few things. We knew we would film a group of multiple myeloma patients trekking to Everest Base Camp. But we couldn’t have predicted the thrill of a helicopter flight through the Himalayas. We couldn’t have anticipated such intimate and raw moments as a patient crying into his doctor’s arms at 17,000′.  We knew we would release a documentary about Tim Leatherman. But we were surprised at how captivated we were by the real-life, human stories that centered around Tim’s innovation. We knew we would produce a regional tourism campaign for Travel Oregon. But we had no idea how delighted (and inspired!) we would be getting to “meet the neighbors” in the quaint and welcoming small towns around Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. 

We droned in Iceland, we reconsidered wildfire in Oregon, we struggled with how to organize, archive, and securely back-up our 100s of terabytes at Uncage the Soul World Headquarters. We built and strengthened relationships in the film industry and with friends whom we love because of their vision, talent, and ambition. We got bullshit on our camera lens at the Pendleton Roundup.  We cared more about the quality of our message and purpose, and cared less about quantity and feeding the content machine.

So here we are at the end of the 2018 trail, with switchbacks and elevation gains and bushwhacking behind us. Looking forward at 2019 is like inspecting a map, and navigating the year before us is easier with the tools of experience, community, and confidence. But there’s so much the map can’t yet tell us, and that’s what we’re looking forward to the most! Thank you for following along and being a part of the Uncage the Soul journey. Please reach out and let us know if there’s a story of yours we can help you share in 2019.

Here are some of our favorite photo moments from 2018.