the backstory

My name is Kimberly Warner. I am a filmmaker living in Oregon. In 2015 I developed cervicogenic vertigo and Mal de Débarquement Syndrome or MdDS that manifests as a constant perception of rocking, bobbing and swaying. The unsteadiness that I live with feels like the ground is constantly moving under my feet. Laying down or closing my eyes does not make it stop. Whatever surface I’m on trampolines or turns to liquid and my equilibrium is always trying to correct for it. There is no cure.

As months turned to years, my sense of self dissipated as my relationship to my body, my career and my community faded. Some call this the dark night of the soul or midlife crisis. Because there is terminology for it means I’m not alone. Our stories are different but many of us know what it feels like to try to hold onto the last skinny roots of a former identity as the entire cliff falls away. Just below the veneer of “the perfect life” we all know that living is hard and the list of reasons really isn’t that long. Fear. Loneliness. Helplessness. Pain. It’s a scary place to be when you think the rest of the world is going to keep on going while you’re stuck trying to figure out how to put your pants back on.

When medical science, religion and green drinks have failed, we are left with a choice. We can continue to say no to our experience and chase cures until the day we drop. Or we can say “yes” - yes to the messy, uncomfortable, painful journey of being alive and learn to incorporate it into a bigger, fuller definition of ourselves. Unfixed Media Productions shines a light on the inevitable peaks and valleys of living with an incurable, chronic condition through an expanding portfolio of projects including a docu-series, podcast, round-table webcast and feature documentary film.

These are the stories of humans who are saying “yes” - the ones who believe their worth lives in the nexus of pain, uncertainty, gratitude and purpose. Through exploring these stories I hope to uncover insights and universal truths that can encourage us all to live more fully and radically Unfixed.