ADUMU

ADUMU

“What?” you say. Adumu – the Maasi jumping dance. Several things converged to remind me of this traditional men’s dance of the Maasi people. A friend and fellow blogger, “Lessons and Revelations,” recently returned from the African Continent and had written a wonderful piece about her experience. Secondly, I was totally absorbed in painting a picture of three Maasi warriors. In my attempt to capture some of the nuances of their dress, I did research and was reminded of the jumping dance. Thirdly, a photo memory of my husband attempting to out jump a group of warriors when we visited Kenya and Tanzania popped up on my phone. Thus, you get to read about Adumu.

Historically, young warriors practiced the dance to hone their leaping and jumping skills, necessary for hunting and combat but has transitioned into a ritualized dance. The dance is judged by its height, grace, and dexterity. On display is the warrior’s strength, agility, endurance, bravery, and heroism. On the lighter side, the dance may be one way a warrior woos a wife. My husband did it to try to add a wife, which didn’t happen. Wonder why?

So why do I write about a jumping dance? Coincidentally, I had recently read a quote by American writer, Joseph Campbell, “As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.”

“Hmm,” I thought. Here is an American writer whose works cover many aspects of the human experience saying “Jump” and a practice of jumping by the people of my ancestral continent meeting in my head.

I would dare say that very few Maasi Warriors jumped gracefully, with dexterity and great heights, their first few attempts. They practice to prepare for hunting and fighting.

We can “jump,” as instructed by Campbell, when we, too, have practiced our jumping dance to build strength, agility, and endurance. What might that look like?

For me, it is the daily practice of the healthy habits of exercise and a reasonably good diet, attention to my emotional and spiritual health, doing fun things and jumping over small chasm…the ones so small that I walk across or take a gentle leap. Practicing my jumps on the small surmountable things builds my confidence muscle, strengthens my resolve, and teaches me that “I can” when faced with the great chasms.

Proverbs 31:17

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Don’t wait until it is needed to assess your agility, endurance, and/or strength.