Paul Krafel

I nourish Upward Spirals – in my work in the fields, in my teaching at Chrysalis, the charter school my wife and I co-founded, and in my writings. Seven years in the National Park Service planted many seed-thoughts that bloomed into a dream of a book that shared lessons from nature. But I was afraid to share them. E.F. Schumacher wrote that if you know something, really know it, and you don't do anything about it, it will fester inside of you. That was my experience until I finally had to write Shifting. I self-published it in 1989, sent copies to forty people and asked them to pass it on to others if the book had created Upward Spirals within them. I sold 2500 copies thanks to readers. Then Chelsea Green asked to reprint the book under the title, Seeing Nature. They added professional editing and many illustrations. After many years, that book went out of print. Then two years ago, two people independently called me within a month of each other to say that we had to make Shifting available again; that it is now more important than ever and a new activist generation needs a book like this. They volunteered their assistance and together, we have brought this third edition into existence. May it continue to nourish Upward Spirals.