The name I chose for my company, “Isuma” (awareness) states our basic philosophy at Isuma Guideworks. Since 1988, our objective has been to work toward the integration of human consciousness and wilderness and reconnect the psyche to its roots in the natural world. I believe that while Isuma Guideworks continues to offer wilderness adventure travel (at its purest), it is through the integration of this philosophy and my calling to guide that our guests experience a deeper levels of discovery and awareness while on our trips.
My self imposed parameter for an excursion into the soul of remote wilderness goes beyond wanting to merely take you to a place, it is a space I want to introduce you to.
The best word I have found to describe this is Isumataq (ee-soo-mu-tok), an Inuit reference to one who creates an atmosphere in which wisdom shows itself, a wisdom that transcends knowledge. It is in knowing how to behave properly toward the land and all its inhabitants. Our culture, haltingly, is shifting from the search for money and material comfort to the search for personal and collective meaning. More and more, even business leaders recognize that they must learn to collaborate in this new search if they are to survive, as evidenced by emerging trends toward “socially responsibility”.
This is what I strive for in my walk upon the earth. My approach is in recognition of nature’s abundance, rather than the struggle to “overcome” it, and is centered in the knowledge that we have an integral place in the natural world. Feeling secure in the wilderness and knowing that the primal forces at play are the same from which we ourselves draw life, we become attuned to the natural rhythm of the land. It is this shift in perspective from outside observer to active participant that places one in the landscape and opens us to deep synchronicities. A manner of being. Grace.
Randy Keller