The BirdTribes Community Portal is a gift to the world, but since it was created and is managed from Byron Bay area, and since many of the founding members are resident here - there is a distinctly 'Byron' feel to the whole project.

I love living here. And mostly that's because I can go and wander down the main street of any of the local towns and connect with some wonderful eccentric person whom I haven't seen enough of lately :-)

The mystique of the name Byron Bay still draws people from all over the world to visit this small town next to the most easterly point of the Australian mainland - but what is the reality behind Byron's fame?

Is it the ancient Aboriginal 'gathering place' that still draws us? (the traditional name for the area was Cavvanba - meeting place). Or the famed surfing spot just far enough away from Brisbane? Or the 'counter-culture' center of creativity for drop outs and misfits? Or the 'new age' scene with its endless stream of visiting (and sometimes resident) teachers, massage therapists, yoga schools, workshop, and such? Or is this reputation just an echo of what used to be here and has not be swept away by a tide of young backpackers looking for a good night club to party in?

Probably a little of all of these ingredients - but however it came about - many of the residents and visitors to Byron seem to feel it is still a special place.

We have here a cultural freedom and material abundance that is becoming increasingly rare in this time of global trandformation - and with that comes a sense of responsibility to use our gifts.

Quite a few have been known to hazard that Byron is still developing towards a more major role as a centre of propagation of the new consciousness that is awakening globally.

My opinion, for what its worth, is that the future is mostly what we make it. I see the possibility for Byron Bay to fulfill all the brightest visions that have been dreamed here over the last decades. I see that these visions for Byron are inextricably entwined with a vision for the whole planet - that they really cannot come to pass without humanity creating a sustainable and compassionate global society. And that, of course, would be the greatest achievement in our short recorded history !

So if you are a resident of the Shire who would like to see Byron fulfill its potential - I invite you to register with the Community Portal here and join this Byron Bay group. Participate in weaving our visions together into an unbreakable golden cord with we we can reel in the magnificence that we know is there waiting for us and bring it through the window of possibility into full reality !

 Wishing you all the best in your lives ~ Firebird