Wise Black Pearls
Wise Black Pearl is more than illustrative podcast built on contemporary wisdom. It is also exhumes the pearl of wisdom from our rich past. The goal is to remove the shells from the eyes of our listeners and restore critical thinking to our global community. We want to leverage both successes and failures to provide insight to accelerate authentic and organic emotional well-being. Through spiritual wisdom, philosophical insight and anecdotal stories for health and wellness, prosperity, purposeful practice and preparation for success we offer tips for real lifelong JOY! The topics are curated to inform and encourage thought leaders and creatives to step into their gift and thrive there. This podcast will offer suggestions to recognize how uniquely special you truly are. We will explore best practices and frameworks for understanding your reason for being and other compelling topics.
Hosted by Maceo Z Keeling
Wise Black Pearls
When Discomfort Becomes Your Greatest Teacher
Life's most profound wisdom often emerges from our most uncomfortable moments. In this raw and honest reflection, I share a deeply personal story about a frustrating jam session with Grammy-nominated musician Kevin O'Neill that taught me lessons that took decades to fully absorb.
When Kevin invited me, a novice saxophone player, to jam with him in Compton, I showed up more focused on talking about my expensive horn than playing it. His direct approach – "Did you come here to play or did you come here to talk?" – and subsequent correction of my playing left me feeling humiliated. I packed up and left, never returning. Only years later did I understand what I'd missed.
This experience mirrors what happens to many of us when faced with challenges. We choke, quit, or give up rather than pushing through discomfort. But what if disruption isn't a sign to stop but rather an invitation to grow? Through this story, I explore how the work we do to overcome obstacles builds exactly the skills and resilience we need for life's toughest moments.
Your gifts weren't given to you just to talk about – they were meant to be exercised and shared. Each of us has what I call our "anointing," our unique contribution that makes the world better. We're all pieces of a giant puzzle, creating something beautiful when we each take our place. Sometimes the people who push us hardest believe in us most, and sometimes our gift may be for just one person on one particular day. Are you ready to embrace discomfort and discover what you're truly capable of?
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Thank you for listening to this episode of Wise Black Pearls. You know I've started this podcast several times and it's been very, very challenging. It's been frustrating because I've tried every single way I could to be delicate, gentle, politically correct, respectful of others and shrink so that others aren't uncomfortable. But you know what. This is my book and it's what I want to talk about. Moreover, I think the earthy, gritty truth is what's needed, more than the coddling of your mind. So, if you dare move forward and let's do this thing, you may wonder why am I so angry or coarse? I'm neither. It's just that the beginning of this book harkens back to an experience I had with a buddy of mine back in the day. His name is Kevin O'Neill. Yep, I'm naming names. Kevin, a virtuoso bass player in Compton, california, invited me by one day to jam with him.
Speaker 1:Now here's a guy who's Grammy-nominated musician and a doctor of music, who invited me, a novice, a beginner saxophone player, to come by and jam with him, made time, left space open and welcomed me in, and so I grabbed my very expensive horn and went to his house and began to talk to him about my horn and how special it was and the serial number. And he said, hey, man, just play it, just take it out and play it. And I thought, wow, I thought he was an asshole. But then I said well, kev, I just want to tell you about my horn because it's real cool. He says, yeah, yeah, that's cool, take it out and play it.
Speaker 1:And so I started putting my horn together and as I went through the process of putting the reed on the mouthpiece and putting the mouthpiece on the cork and putting the neck on the horn, I was really getting frustrated, really annoyed that he would even talk to me that way, like I didn't matter. But I put the horn around my neck and I I'm gonna use the sheet music. And he said you don't need the sheet music. And I said, well, yeah, because I don't know the song. He says, yeah, you do. He said can you hum it? I said, yeah, I can hum it. He says, well, then you can play it. I said, well, I'm not that good.
Speaker 1:You know, all too often, before we pick up our instrument, before we put it all together, before we bring it to our lips in speech or proclamation or a willingness to speak out our truth, we start to tear it down and the Bible says a double-minded man is unstable in all ways. And so in that moment I felt completely unstable, vexed, upset, irritated. And Kevin said hey, did you come here to play or did you come here to talk? And Kevin said hey, did you come here to play or did you come here to talk? And so I put the mouthpiece on and I began to blow and I blew the song Sugar by Stanley Turrentine, a blue note artist. It was his cover song on a 1971 album. Anyway, when I got to a note and I played it the way I knew how to play it, he stopped. I wasn't two bars in and he stopped and said no, that's an F. I said what he said, that's supposed to be an F. I said well, I told you. He said, hey, hey, just play it. And I was by then completely off balance, completely off center, and I didn't want to play anymore.
Speaker 1:Indication of what happens to many of us when we are challenged and are required to step up and put up and show up and do the things that are required to be effective for our own good, we choke, quit or give up. I didn't know at the time, but there was a lesson, and it's a lesson that took me a couple of decades to figure out. And before I tell you what I figured out, you might want to know. Well, what did I figure out? Well, evidenced by the fact that to this day, I play saxophone like a third chair, 10th grader.
Speaker 1:One of the things I figured out is that whenever you set yourself to a righteous intention, there's going to be disruption, and that disruption doesn't mean that you need to quit or stop or do something different, or that this isn't your thing. It may just mean that you need to work through it. And the work that you do that gets you through it is the very work that will preserve you when the times get hard and the thing gets difficult and you're challenged by someone or something that you don't think you were prepared for. But because you've done the work, you've done the practice, you'll have a repository of skills, experience and the work ethic to call upon that will get you through. So, yeah, this book is riddled with stories. Take from them what you will Take from them, what you will Take from them what you are able.
Speaker 1:Recognize that you may not get what I got, but my promise, my commitment to you, is that you will get the pearls of wisdom that were born out of practice, work, experience and time that may keep you from getting your head bumped, something that can preserve you and help you to guide you to your anointing. Every one of us has an opportunity, an icky guy, a reason for being your anointing. They weren't given to you to talk about. They were given to you to exercise, to execute and to present to the world as your gift to make the world better. We're all pieces of a giant puzzle and once the pieces are in place, it creates a beautiful experience and a beautiful picture. And so, if you're ever given the opportunity to present your gift to the world, don't shrink from it, don't be afraid of it. Give them what you got. They may not experience joy or jubilation, they may not celebrate you, they may not nominate you for a Grammy, they might not even acknowledge you in the same way that you acknowledge yourself, but know that your gift is not for you. Acknowledge yourself, but know that your gift is not for you. Your gift may be for one person, and one person alone.
Speaker 1:On that day, when I felt upset, irritated and somewhat humiliated, I didn't recognize the love that Kevin O'Neal was sharing with me that day he was not the enemy, he was my greatest ally. He was committed to ensuring that he gave the best of what he had to bring out the best of what I had. And unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending. I got pissed off, packed up my saxophone and went home. I never went back. Think about it. Kevin continued on to get his doctorate in music and he's doing what he does. And because he didn't validate my errors so I wouldn't feel bad or uncomfortable, I lost out. I hope I've given you some fodder for thought that lifts you up, invigorates you and creates anticipation and enthusiasm as you move through your day. Please subscribe for premium content, share, follow and turn on notifications so you don't miss a single episode. Also, I wish for you, as always, joy, health, wellness, prosperity and salvation. No-transcript.
