Educational Excellence

Happy Friday, y’all … yeah!  Just do it … TGIF!

Things aren’t what they seem, and sometimes … it appears as if we’ll never know …  Not to worry, methinks!  Preparations to treat the “coronavirus” must be made everywhere … including the States!  Maybe the vice president can convince the president that the appearance of “covid-19” is indeed inevitable in the States …  Do you really think it will “disappear” in America, too!?

Well, I am still enjoying my retirement abroad, Puerto Viejo, to be exact.  You know that “people are people wherever we go!”  I don’t get uptight but choose my friends and associates wisely.  I enjoy spending time alone to meditate or write or just take a walk.  Sometimes, I just listen to my favorite music ranging from jazz to classical … from time to time!  

Since I still host “couchsurfers” when it’s convenient for me, many “locals” wonder where I get my “house guests” from as well as what “we are doing”!  I experienced one “young brother” who jumped out in front of a kind female guest from France as she and I walked and extended his hand in front of her!  She looked at his hand, turned to look at me and stated, “I’m with him.”  The young buck took the rejection hard and turned to me.  I smiled and said, “She doesn’t know you!”  He then retorted, “You’re old …” as he disappeared again onto a side street.  I replied as he walked away, “You’re stupid . . . bitch!”  I continued walking just behind my friend as she stopped in the doorway of a nice gift shop.  I reminded myself as I gripped my “baston”, and muttered, “I’m from New York!”

I am sure that “most” of us … even not “Americans” … are keeping up with this reality tv show drama being staged in “the American government”!  Who would have thought …  “Look at the shiny coin in the grass …”  So now it seems that the “coronavirus” is on almost every continent except one, so far!  And there is a bunch of “leaders” scrambling to look like “leaders” while they are “forced” to take a break from their own corruption and acknowledge “the universe’s omnipotence”!  Enter: “Covid 19”  Are “you” confident in a “leader” who lies through his teeth?!!!  Are you comfortable with the “national emergency procedure” being “headed” by a “vp” with NO successful health experience other than a botched episode of an AIDS outbreak in his home state!?  “Is this SHOW over yet?”  Oh … that’s right … this is “real” … we can’t make this stuff up!!

In closing, I offer a “humble prayer” to the universe.  I offer lots of love and peace to each of us as we deal with the many, many experiences along our journeys!

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director

Happy Friday, All!  I hope you are ALL hanging “tough”!  So, T.G.I.F.!

Still, the “world” is spinning out of control!!  Could the state of “international affairs” be a premonition of ” … what is to come?!?”  I mean, folks are “heaping” on the crap “world-wide”!  It seems it’s true … some people, be it a family member or political representative … even a boss … think that their “wrong” behavior is okay unless or until somebody “checks” them!  It’s like a “lack of character” that is becoming the “new norm”.  Ask Roger Stone …

You can get tried and found guilty in a federal court, sentenced for a cover-up including “witness tampering” … and later be pardoned by the same person the “convicted party” was trying to cover-up for … and got caught!!  “Grown-Up Cops & Robbers”, heh?!?  Perfectly normal, right?!?  And if you say “yes”, you probably have been fooled, too!  At this point, it seems that “we the people” must let this drama play out.  Be prepared for how it ends, and accept your part … or lack of it.

Now that we live in a world where “religion” has become like a bargaining chip or “instantaneously offensive”, some folks have lost sight of spirituality, which is ensconced in most “religions”, so to speak.  Humans don’t make time to “worship” what was here before “we” were, like nature, birds, oceans and the water we drink to survive … maybe our Creator, even!  Have we become such a sad species that we will be known as the one that sacrificed itself … and it’s young, too?!?  I know, that’s probably too much for some of “us” to think about.

Let me ask you guys a question:  “If you were God, what would you do with humanity?”  I am anticipating the opportunity to transcend “all” of this crap that’s going down.  This “self-hatred” humans have adopted in the form of “self obsessions” if you will, and as well have been perpetrating this “fraud” in plain sight, may be the cause of the decline of our species.  Humans, should we decide to survive, must understand each other as more than “a color” or “a religion”, a language, or national clothing let alone only a “member of a political party”.  We must learn to accept each other as “fellow spirits” along our journeys during which we must also learn unconditional love for each other … beginning with ourselves.

I’ve had a rugged week and my emotions are all over the place.  In waking up early this morning, I tried to meditate … But I could only sob a bit while thinking of my Mother … as the rain pitter-pattered on the tin roof of the Casita Azul …  I think I need a yoga class, maybe a massage.

Have a great day and a wonder-filled weekend, blessings!

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director

Happy Friday, All!

So do you think we could benefit from a “TGIF”, this morning?!?  Give it a whirl … besides, it’s Valentine’s Day, even here in the Caribbean!  TGIF, then!!!

You know, I think our Creator is challenging us right about now on the planet Earth.  I wonder how many of “us” could care LESS about what happens to “this world” when “our” time is up!?  Worse yet, how many could care less about their OWN offspring?!?  Have we become THAT selfish that we would rather see the world crumble at our feet whilst we enjoy our last remnants of fabricated “wealth”?!?  Would we rather see our fellow “humans” struggle with their “last breaths of this life” while “we” count the number of “things” we’ve acquired in our brief lifetime as “we” breathe our last breaths of life as we know it?

I am not going to wait for anything.  I try to live being kind to those around me who understand that they must be kind to me … and each other.  If “one” cannot do that, one will not be seeing me around …  It’s better for all of us.  I didn’t come to Costa Rica to retire and get involved in some “insignificant nonsense”.  I keep my goals clear for each day and maintain a sense of human dignity and unconditional love in my life.

About a year ago, I started to host “couch surfers”.  These travelers are usually trying to avoid the high cost of hotels and other lodgings while exploring a variety of attractions.  My most recent guests came from places like Cordoba, Argentina and Metz, France.  I’ve even had my share of folks from Barcelona, Spain!  I try to assist these usually younger travelers with a place to stay for a few nights while they explore their dreams during the day hiking, snorkeling or scuba diving, and enjoying the rain, sun, and surfs at all times!  I also use this time I have been granted to commune with these travelers and share with them the elements of my life.  It usually works out well unless I get a selfish guest … hmmpff!

I continue to meditate regularly, teach a few classes per week and continue to work on my manuscript,  I enjoy Puerto Viejo because I can get everything that I need to be done on my own … so far.  I have begun to even plan a trip stateside in a few months.  I may want to explore my medicare health benefits as they pertain to possible hip replacement or surgery … or just tough it out!  I also want to see my parents’ grave in New York as well as see my only child and grandson in Connecticut.

So, on the note of Valentine’s Day and “unconditional love”, I would like to close this correspondence asking each of us to open our hearts a bit more.  May we become more aware of the ways in which we can improve this world … not just USE it until we can’t use it no more ….  “Share the wealth of this planet … and the love!”

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director

Happy Friday again, y’all … yeah!  Then shall we … “T.G.I.F.”!?

There’s a lot going on “world-wide”, right?!?  Does anybody want a taste of that “coronavirus”?!?  Would anyone agree that “living in this world today” requires each of us to make some tough calls … to just survive or live a lavish life of luxury, if that floats our boats.  Still, there are others who refuse to be “duped”, lied to, counted as just another whining mouth to feed by “Big Bird”!  What an interesting “level” of existence!  “To each her/his own …” as long as we’re not hurting each other!

How do you “see it”, so to speak?  Is your vision beyond yourself, should you happen to “care” about others??  Is your value system in your environment, be it your home or neighborhood, one in which “common truths” are agreed upon and shared?  Do you expect “bus drivers”, police officers, supermarket or car wash attendants to be “honest” or “truthful” in handling your interactions with them?  How about our educators … do we share the same “truths”?  The president …

In the trial of the current president … yeah, the trial of the president … two men took their “stand” and set forth their “truths” or views on the proceedings.  They were … for me … Adam Schiff who was later followed only momentarily by Mitt Romney.  I mean, can we agree that a trial should have documents and witnesses?  I had both in my trial when they tried to convict ME!!  Lindsay Graham and Devin Nunez were BOTH involved in the “extra network” with convicted Ukranian, Lev Parnas!!  That’s why they fought for their “master”!  Why are people who “scrump” could care less about embracing the “fraud”, deception and “modern-day tribalism” advocated by “the nation’s” leader?  What exactly ARE “they” gaining?  A dream of being a nasty attitude, dishonest, ruthless, sexual predator “bully”?!  REALLY?!?  Are you living vicariously through a fool?!

Well, after being “attacked” online as I supported “friends” and their comments regarding the “sham” Senate “trial” with NO witnesses nor documents in the effort to conceal the “truth” from the already “dumbed down” American public, I have decided to stay “my course”.  Some of us have been gifted with natural talents while “others” simply blindly follow still “others” and choose NOT to develop any skill other than “following” someone.  How many Americans “fit” that description?!?  Shucks, I experienced one “lady” from Scandanavia who lives in Costa Rica send me FOX News Clips in my inbox until I blocked her …

Now, we are experiencing a “guilty bully” whose sycophant “followers/dummies” acquitted him saying he has “total acquittal”!  The Washington Post I saw simply said: “Trump Acquitted” … extra words added by the advocate of “listen to the phone call” defense instead of letting John Bolton who quit under this tyrant testify what the president TOLD HIM!  Can you say, “cover up the cover-up”?  I, too, pray for that “country” first stolen from the “natives” then established on the backs of MY ANCESTORS … but not “scrump”.  He and his family have taken the “american government” hostage and is destroying the “once lovely plains and forests” turning them into toxic waste dumps for the wealthy CEO’s and fossil fuel executives.  As one news announcer stated last night, “America has been bullied by its president”.

So, I will spend my retirement outside of the terrain for “Civil War II” and pray that citizens of the States rally to save something for your grandchildren.  Don’t be selfish and die in shame!  Stand up for humanity!!

Have a great weekend!

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director