Whatever the Weather

I thought that nature was enough
Till Human nature came
But that the other did absorb
As Parallax a Flame —

Of Human nature just aware
There added the Divine
Brief struggle for capacity
The power to contain

Is always as the contents
But give a Giant room
And you will lodge a Giant
And not a smaller man

This short poem by Emily Dickinson moves almost imperceptibly from a somewhat harsh realism, to an ambiguous optimism, and finally, to a philosophical maxim of sorts. The stanzas are imbued with a sense of curious wisdom that follows – or leaves trailing behind it – a lingering question: what do we know that depends on until? And how do we know to begin?

Such thoughts are fitting for a company like Optera. The brand name itself is intriguing, sparking little flames of speech. An apparent blend of "optimism" and "terra" points to a brighter future for those who are terra firma bound. The planet, if you haven't yet noticed, is quite big. And it takes big ambition, and far-reaching knowledge, to go about something global.  

When Optera reached out to us to craft their very first brand anthem, we were up to the challenge of telling a story that would simultaneously convey the immense scope of their work, and the personal mission at the heart of the matter.  The Optera team flew in from all over the country to sit down with us and create something that expresses the urgency and the love behind this unique company. Passion, kindness, and intelligence are communicative qualities – when you get around people with so much of all three, everyone brings each other into their worlds, and you end up finding out that those worlds aren't so different after all.

There's the problem, and the solution, and the courage to face the former, and unravel the latter. Opera's commitment to doing just that, inspired the videos that we made for them. 

We build things together. It takes an army. Sometimes that army is but a few. And sometimes a few is what the whole planet needs. We like to dream of "a Giant room" where nature is enough.