Willi Paul is the CEO and publisher of Bay Area based PlanetShifter.com, an online magazine and blog which allows eco-minded people to network together and share ideas and news on sustainability, on green politics, and the impact we have on our planet.

He is also the Director of Sustainable Business Development - USA & China at CoolTribe.com, another online green networking community.  As partners, CoolTribe.com and PlanetShifter.com offers global business groups and citizens a full suite of social media and online community tools. The vision is to build strategic relationships through a combination of sponsorships, directory and event placements, online teams, interviews, and articles through targeted traffic in the green-tech and sustainability market sectors

Mr. Paul always loved exploring nature as a child.  In college, he majored in ecology, and earned an urban planning degree from the University of Minnesota.  But he found that the planning offices of most cities today are male dominated, bureaucratic institutions, and out of touch with the people.

PlanetShifter.com appears less structured.  It is focused around around articles and interviews, and organized according to topics such alchemy, community, innovation, music, mythology, shaman, sustainability. At first glance, many of these topics seemed rather esoteric. What is their inter-relationship with sustainability?  Paul picked three of the topics: music, mythology, and shamanism.  He said music is very powerful - it's a deep form of communication that transcends beyond words - it can help heal you, and lift your spirits, by simply changing your mood.  When you enjoy the music you hear, pay attention to the words or lyrics too!  Combined with music, words can be very powerful. 

Mythology is not just ancient practice of using story, symbol, and songs; but the assumptions we take for granted in our daily lives.  For example, do we in the West react negatively or positively when we hear the word "communism?"  If we hear the word "bamboo" do we visualize a drafty shack in the 1960's comedy sitcom "Gilligan's Island" or perhaps "Lost?"  The images we create are based upon our past experiences. But how valid are those assumptions? [place photo here] If the assumptions which form the core of our existence are invalid, the purposeful realization of who we are will profoundly alter the direction of our lives.   A book Paul recommends is "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Cambell.