OUR WORLD
REVIEW
Take the RED PILL
...and Cure Global Warming
A
by Andrew Cusick
ndrew
Cusick
t a k e s
readers
on a tour
of
the
world,
savoring the ups, downs, and
oddities of experiencing his
WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms)
and youth hostel adventures
through Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Los Angeles.
What makes this young man’s
journal so riveting for me is
the unique way he weaves
nitty-gritty personal experiences into and around global issues that can so often feel overwhelming.
Cusick’s twenty months of traveling the world combined with the keen acuity of perception gifted him
thanks to qigong and meditative practices provide
him with a writer’s voice that is simultaneously unpretentious, yet very wise. Andy was away from his
comfortable life in Scotland long enough to make
friends, fall in love, and experience very different
ways of living in different social and environmental
climes... and come to a deeper appreciation of how
we can all help to save the world without feeling
too guilty, resentful, or judgmental along the way.
The first two thirds of “Take the Red Pill” feels like
reading a friend’s travel diary. Written in journal
diary format, it’s interspersed with short informational sections summarizing interconnected facts
about economics, ecology, global warming, ab-
29 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
original thinking, spirituality,
and philosophy. The factual
sections are written in much
the same journalistic style
of writing as the personal
diary entries, and are short
and packed with interesting
charts and graphics. The last
third of the book delves more
fully into the author’s philosophical point of view, and
provides the reader with a
kind of Reader’s Digest encyclopedia of how and why we
can change our way of thinking. Cusick reassures readers
that we need not fall into the
trap of ecoparalysis, since inaction is not the solution now. Inner awareness is
absolutely essential, as is the understanding that
we are inextricably interconnected with everything
“out there” in the world.
I especially love the inclusion of the eastern concept of Sunyata, with the notion of reality being
comprised of much more than thinking things must
either be true or false--since actually, most things
really fall into two other categories: not-true-notfalse, and true-and-false.
This is a book that encourages you to FEEL its intent while you think your way through its concepts, and it does an outstanding job of reminding
readers of their heart, spirit, and physicality... and
the importance of being authentic, integrated, and
real. Highly recommended!
Reviewed by Cynthia Sue Larson