Tea Time with Sheng

Episodes

• 
  Why Is It So Hard to Be Yourself? | Jesse Garcia 23.10.2026 1h 45m

  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/u3AIl1BeSk8Find 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/HNtglKKrk5EThe Tao of Non-Possession (Tao Te Ching #2): https://youtu.be/bbukytBzt1YWhy 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/Chapters00:00 Hard to Be Yourself00:51 Welcome to Tea Time02:06 Letting Go of "Musician"03:46 There's No Done07:23 True to Your Nature14:01 The Agitator19:02 Song #1: All I've Ever Known32:18 Pulling Punches35:40 The Toothpaste Kid38:53 Nature AND Nurture45:30 Fooling Ourselves57:06 TTC Verse #101:00:41 TTC Verse #201:04:31 Just Be Myself01:07:06 Wisdom Is Timing01:09:19 Song #2: Nature Is Natural01:16:43 The High Wire01:21:10 Regrets & Magic01:27:00 TTC Verse #1101:32:38 Song #3: The River01:40:42 The Flying Ship01:44:12 Embody Your Nature