Tea Time with Sheng

I met Jesse Garcia at Barton Springs while he was playing his mandolin under a tree. He's a musician, a philosopher at heart, and someone I've really enjoyed getting to know.

Lately, Jesse's been questioning what it means to call himself a musician, and how much of himself he's been holding back in order to belong.

So we sat down with some gongfu tea and his guitar, and followed that thread wherever it took us. We ended up asking whether music is a product or a process, why the agitator in a room pays a price for belonging, and what a man finds when he jumps off one high wire and lands on another.

Jesse played three of his songs along the way, each progressively becoming "more himself" as our session went on. By the third, there was no more holding back left. I could feel it, and you will too as you go on this journey with us.

Good tea, good company. Welcome to our very first Tea Time. 🍵

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/u3AIl1BeSk8

Find Jesse:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fool_0f_ideas/
Bandcamp: https://foolofideas.bandcamp.com/

Jesse's songs featured in this episode:
• All I've Ever Known (at 19:02)
• Nature Is Natural (at 01:09:19)
• The River (at 01:32:38)

Resources mentioned:
The Door to All Beginnings (Tao Te Ching #1): https://youtu.be/HNtglKKrk5E
The Tao of Non-Possession (Tao Te Ching #2): https://youtu.be/bbukytBzt1Y
Why an Empty Life Feels Fulfilling (Tao Te Ching #11): https://youtu.be/NMmuietaUWU

📖 Lao-Tzu's Taoteching, translated by Red Pine: https://amzn.to/4teD7u6
✍️ Substack for journal entries and monthly live meetups → https://sheng.substack.com/
🎬 Instagram for stories and shorts → https://www.instagram.com/shengsilver/

Chapters
00:00 Hard to Be Yourself
00:51 Welcome to Tea Time
02:06 Letting Go of "Musician"
03:46 There's No Done
07:23 True to Your Nature
14:01 The Agitator
19:02 Song #1: All I've Ever Known
32:18 Pulling Punches
35:40 The Toothpaste Kid
38:53 Nature AND Nurture
45:30 Fooling Ourselves
57:06 TTC Verse #1
01:00:41 TTC Verse #2
01:04:31 Just Be Myself
01:07:06 Wisdom Is Timing
01:09:19 Song #2: Nature Is Natural
01:16:43 The High Wire
01:21:10 Regrets & Magic
01:27:00 TTC Verse #11
01:32:38 Song #3: The River
01:40:42 The Flying Ship
01:44:12 Embody Your Nature