Episode Player

In this deeply personal episode of Open Heart, Lu Leslan explores Music Mapping—the invisible pathways music carves in our consciousness from childhood innocence to adult mastery, and sometimes, transcendence.

Lu shares her own journey navigating two musical traditions—the effortless joy of playing the Sheng as a child and the challenging pursuit of piano mastery as an adult. She reveals how expectations, self-criticism, and fear can block the very freedom we’re seeking, and how teaching helped her rediscover the joy and flow she once knew.

If you’ve ever felt stuck or pressured in your creative or learning journey, this episode offers compassionate insight and inspiration to help you reconnect with play, presence, and your own unique rhythm.

Show Notes:

• Introduction to the four stages of learning: unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence.
• Lu’s contrasting experiences with the Sheng and piano instruments, highlighting childhood ease vs. adult effort.
• The struggle to recapture early joy under the weight of expectation and self-doubt.
• Teaching piano as a pathway to rediscovering presence and letting go of performance pressure.
• How expectations can both guide and block our growth — and the courage it takes to shift mindset.
• Reflective questions to consider: What childhood activities did you do with ease? What expectations hold you back now? How might play transform your craft?
• Invitation to listeners to share their stories with Lu via email at lu@leslancreativestudio.com.
• Episode 5: Thinking of You, Mom. I want to start at the very beginning of that journey—not with my own experience as a mother, but with the woman who first defined the word for me: my mother.