Meet Gregg Optekamp

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gregg Optekamp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gregg, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience to me is an opportunity to overcome a situation where my mind tells me that I’ll not succeed or to feel pity for myself. In my experience it falls into the impostor roll. A self programmed space developed though my life due to my perspectives of different life experiences.
Growing up I was faced with adapting to different cultures, schools, living styles and had many positive points but like anything there’s a flip side as well.
Resilience is something that grew as I grew. It’s about one day see the perspective that everyone has situations that they overcome. I tell myself to embrace all my emotions fully and know that it’s just part of the journey. I also remind myself that everything is temporary and life is about overcoming and having an open mind to life experiences. I watch how I label current life ,” problems”, as to not give my mind the ability to stress me out or take me in the future where my mind can manipulate me into unnecessary stress. Hope is a big part of it as well as having a purpose. Knowing your purpose is a vital aspect of ovecoming blocks as mental blocks little speed bumps that I get through which lead me to the goal.
At the end of the day awareness is the key to recognizing the challenge so I can address it knowing that I will overcome whatever it is through time.
I ask myself if this situation will matter in 5 years and if it will that I work on it.
I also have to remember that out of 8 billion people on the planet a few million + are going through the same situation and if they can do it so can I.
Exercise and meditation is key to building awareness and relieve subconscious & conscious stress.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Passion and fervor are my drivers to my inner success. Being that I became a creative abstract artist I appreciate the challenge and the ability to make works that no one has created before.
It’s very exciting to push my mind into deeper views and see what I can create or develop. Donating to charities are a gift and my favorite two are the Ronald McDonald House and the Children’s Assessment Center of Houston.
I discovered a wonderful gift that I could make art and donate it to a cause that could use the money to help children. That opened my eyes to giving back which is fun !!
Giving art and selling art are a great balance and I appreciate the opportunity to do both.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1 Living in the moment is key.
Eckhardt Tolle’s book , ” The Power of Now “, was a big changer for me and it’s vital to my life balance.
2 Momentum with a plan, meaning having a plan for the Day and creating an agenda to reach your goals. Being stagnant is waiting for depression and stress to build up. No procrastination !!
3 Having an open mind, being teachable and keeping humble are points that all contribute to my happiness. I believe these are very helpful to being true to yourself, not cheating your happiness with comparison and being grateful for everything with love and acceptance.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Eckhardt Tolle’s , The Power Of Now “, is a study of how to overcome pain and life stress. He talks about how everything outside of this moment in time leads to depression, stress and fear. Eckhardt talks about things like, ” How do you get there ? Answer – By knowing that you’re there already “.
Tells us how the ego always wants to put us into sadness or fear to stay alive when in turn its taking life opportunities from us, using us to manipulate ourselves. Tells me about the ,”watcher and the thinker “, to parts of the brain and how to overcome sabotaging thinking patters and so on.
The tools Tolle gives me in this book are very helpful to inner peace and I am forever grateful to him for writing this book.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://greggariousart.com
• Instagram: Optemized_greggariousart
• Facebook: Gregg Optekamp
• Linkedin: Gregg Optekamp
• Twitter: Optekamp