letter to the Editor from Melbourne

EVENTS LEADING UP TO BIRTH OF "THEGREENBACKPACK"

Aloha from Melbourne,

After having spent the last 12 years building my career in real estate and finance in my hometown of Honolulu, it is good to be back in my 2nd home of Melbourne, Australia writing this introspection and introduction.

Interesting how I have done more exploring of Oahu's trails, beaches, and hidden treasures in the last three months than I have done in the last 12 years! Once I had made up my mind to leave the islands, my appreciation for even the smallest details about my island home grew daily and exponentially. Sometimes you don't know what you've got until you don't have it any more.


Background.
I started my career at Bank of America and was lucky enough to have a very talented mentor teach me the ropes of the mortgage business in my early 20s. When BofA finally shut their doors on their mortgage operations in Hawaii, by flying in our regional director unexpectedly to give the entire office its two weeks notice, I made the decision not to work for a large soul-less corporation ever again.

I went to work for a smaller regional mortgage bank based in the East Coast, yet run as an independent operation with deep pocketed mainland backing in Hawaii. This company specialized in government lending: FHA, VA and first-time homebuyer friendly loans, and I consistently achieved top-producer status while working here, winning expensive awards trips to Mexico and the Bahamas along the way. It was also here that I got my first taste of the satisfaction gained from volunteering in the non-profit arena by teaching at the Hawaii Homeownership Center.

The best thing about teaching is that in order to do it well, you must know your subject matter intimately. When it comes to building a strong real estate portfolio, this means that you must be able to do it yourself in order to teach others how to do it successfully. Hence, by age 24 I had bought the first investment property in what was to grow into a modestly respectable portfolio of properties, and by age 28 I was living in the shadow of Diamond Head, driving my dream car, and teaching real estate finance classes across the state.

I can still remember the day when my then-financial advisor called to inform me that I was worth over $1 million dollars on paper. It sure didn't feel like I was a millionaire, especially seeing as I was only in my mid-20s and far from having seven figures in the bank; nevertheless it sure felt good to hear that number and my name in the same sentence!

Four years ago, I started my own mortgage firm, with an emphasis on educating our clients about how to use the mortgage as a financial tool to help achieve short, mid and long-term goals more effectively. We planned for a downturn in the credit markets last year, however were blindsided by the ferocity with which it hit, and the extent to which it affected us. We kept our doors open literally until our phones were shut off and we were unable to conduct business.

Before I left Hawaii last week, I had dinner with some clients of ours whom we helped to build a modest portfolio of rental properties with. Their portfolio is performing well despite the downturn, and they are optimistic and feeling good about the future, in part because of how we helped structure their real estate financing and acquisitions. I am most proud of the fact that in over 9 years of being in business and over $90 million dollars worth of loans funded during that career, to the best of my knowledge not one of my customers has lost their home to foreclosure.

Except, well perhaps....me. This remains to be seen. As I fought to keep my business open, I sold off performing real estate assets, and attempted to raise funds privately before eventually being forced to shut down my business and become another victim of the credit crunch and global financial crises. Right now I am working against the clock to dispose of my last property and avoid foreclosure; the only material possession I am keeping is my 1980 Honda motorcycle so that I have something to get around on when I eventually do return to Hawaii to rebuild.


One door closes, another door opens.
I've watched all the material things that I worked so hard for be stripped away from me over the last 18 months, have flirted with depression, and have had plenty of opportunity to do some serious soul-searching to confront questions like:

• "What am I passionate about?"
• "What do I want my life to be about?"

As painful as the experience off loss has been, on the other side of my fall I have discovered hope, and a renewed passion for life. I have discovered the true meaning of the word "friend", and the true meaning of the word "family", and experienced how there is not really a whole lot of difference between the two.

Although my financial assets have been wiped out, the relationships and heartfelt connections that I have made over the years are priceless. These are the true assets that I have been able to create over the course of the last 12 years, along with the invaluable experience of building [and losing!] a business in financial services. Broke is temporary; poor is forever.

I am truly blessed with the opportunity to explore, question, and discover myself such that I can completely re-invent myself and blossom into the person I have always wanted to be.

Instead of looking for things in my profession to be passionate about, I now have the opportunity to pursue my passions and explore ways to create a new profession based around these passions.

Instead of getting up each morning and thinking about what must be done on my to-do list today, I get to wake up each morning and answer the question, "What do I want to do today?"

Each time I have the opportunity to share my story with someone who is interested, the reaction is almost always the same:

• "I am sooo jealous!"
• "That is something I have always wanted to do!"
• "You are doing what all of us want to, an so few actually do - follow your dreams!"

And, I am once again reminded of how lucky I am to be in a position where I can actually do this... with no children, no significant other, no responsibilities except to take care of me, myself and I...

I am on a mission to travel the world seeking out ADVENTURE and opportunities to be of SERVICE. Why? Because these are two things that feed my soul. Two things that when I am engaged in them, I lose track of time and space and am living completely in the moment. Two things that I simply LOVE to do...


What's Next?
I've never been one who learns easily from lectures and ciricullum; instead I am born of stubborn Irish, Scottish and Filipino bloodlines that prefer to learn by fire, or perhaps more accurately, by jumping into the fire and learning through experience. I don't recommend my path to anyone else; it has been a long and winding road [which is how I like it] and is likely how the rest of my journey will continue to be.

I am specifically interested in these areas:

• Arts & Architecture
• Building Community
• Culture
• Design
• Economics & Microfinance
• Sustainability
  

I guess you could call it the ABC's of the madness of my travels... these could all probably be lumped under one word:


Sustainability.
Sustainability has become a buzz word in recent times, and it can be easy to think of "sustainability" simply as "environmentalism", or "eco-friendly". However, to me, sustainability encompasses so much more than "going green".....

Put the word "sustainable" in front of any of the following words, and you cast a renewed focus onto another aspect of the sustainability movement: arts, capitalism, charitable work, culture, entrepreneurship, environment, education, economy, philosophy, philanthropy, social responsibility, social ventures, even....wait for it....spirituality.

So, while this journey is about me diving into these things that interest me, and inviting you to come along and learn with me......it is also an outward expression of the journey I am taking within to explore myself:

What passions do I want to follow? What do I want to experience? Will I retreat into the wild? Will I come back? Who will I be when I come back?

I am interested in meeting passionate, outward focussed people who are taking action and making a positive difference in the world. This gives me such a broad pallet to paint my explorations across, as there are an unlimited number of ways that we can contribute to humanity. I want to give myself a first-hand education about changing the world.

Therefore the blog is a travelog, an soul-searching diary, a research paper, a news column, and hopefully, a forum where those of us who find ourselves asking these same questions can discuss and debate and collaborate and connect and explore together. Don't be surprised to find me writing about an organic farm in one post, and about an artist I've met on the road in the next. My hope is that the blog is as diverse and rich as my travels will be!

I'd like to invite you to come along for the ride and explore this pale blue dot in space we call home together. Laugh with me. Question with me. Question me! Question each other. Discover together. And in doing so, perhaps we can discover something new in ourselves that we did not recognize before.


Sincerely,




Matthew Kamakani Lynch
theGreenBackpack.blogspot.com

Gung Hee Fat Choy from Maui!!

LIONS PROWL THE BEACH IN FRONT OF JODO MISSION, LAHAINA

For the last 24 years, Au's Shaolin Arts Society has been making the journey to Maui to bring in Chinese New Year by sharing traditional Chinese Lion Dance performances and Kung-Fu demonstrations across the island, occasionally venturing over to Molokai and Lanai to perform as well.

I've been making the journey with the family since I started my martial arts training seven years ago...it has been two years since since I ceased training in order to heal some wounds I suffered, and two years since I've joined them full-time. I make the decision to go at the last minute, so it is a surprise to many of my brothers and sisters when I show up in Maui...they barely skip a beat: "Welcome back, brother."

It is difficult to describe the experience to someone who has not come along for the ride: 2 teams of 8-10 people, 50+ performances ranging from 1-6 hours in length over seven days. Playing Lion's head requires strength, stamina, agility, and creativity....imagine carrying and animating a 15-pounds paper-mache mask over your head, flirting with the crowd, becoming the lion...or, playing the tail by following your head player's footwork, keeping your head down, and crab-walking to keep the illusion of a heavenly four-legged feline, engaging your audience for hours at at time....INTENSE. And that doesn't include the kung-fu demonstrations!

You find out a lot about your physical, mental, and emotional limits. If you survive the experience, you are hooked. For life.

This year we have an apprentice [rookie] on board from a sister school in Long Island, New York. He is athletic, talented, and physically very strong, though nothing could have prepared him for this...our first performance? A 5-hour marathon with a skeleton crew down Fort Street Mall in Chinatown Honolulu.

He survives, with a look that says "What-the-heck-was-that??"....by the end of the week, his grin tells us that he is hooked; he'll be back. Happened to our brother from Kentucky too, the whitest, most red-necked good 'ole country-boy Chinese person you have ever met ;-) ...he has made the pilgrimage for seven years now, his only experience of Maui being from inside the Lion...

I realize on my first day back, how much a part of me this has become....my legs and shoulders feel the burn almost immediately, and my body hits the wall early, recognizes it like an old friend, and pushes through
happily. The drum beat moves me, infusing my movements with the spirit of the lion.

The lion dance drum beat sets the rythym of the year, cleansing the negative energy of the past year through the very pores of my skin, and clearing the way for the blessings of a new year to be welcomed in...when I get back on the drums I quickly remember the old beats and riffs, and am soon smiling as I start to throw in new riffs here and there. Hello creativity, where have you been? Nice to meet you again....



Playing for the children is what makes us happiest; they are scared and thrilled and happy all at the same time, and they love to feed the Lions their lai-see offerings for good luck. Young and old alike squeal with delight as the Lions nibble hands, legs and the occasional small child on their way to the red envelopes and lettuce offerings.

We get to be superstars for a week each year; some of the people in our audience have watched the Au children grow up, and have been following us for 15- 20 years... and despite the inevitable behind-the-scenes drama that will unfold when bodies and minds in such close proximity are pushed to the limit, we all grin when it is over. The bond that is formed when you share an intense collective experience goes beyond words. Each of us walks a little taller, feels a little stronger on the other side of Chinese New Year's celebrations ...walking in the knowledge that if we can do that....we can do anything.

And thus, a new year begins....