Open Heart with Lu Leslan

The Border

• Lu Leslan

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Every border we live inside — we inherited. Episode 5 of Open Heart Season 3 asks what it cost in human lives — and tells the story of one woman alone in a motel room with yellowish curtains in Tijuana in 1979 — who crossed a border she wasn't supposed to cross. And a woodcarver on the Victoria Falls Bridge who crosses one every day just to feed his family.

SHOW NOTES

EPISODE 5 — THE BORDER

The border between nations is the history of human suffering. It will take curiosity and humility to understand the ground we are standing on.

This episode asks:

  • Do we know we inherited the border between nations without knowing the human suffering?
  • Do we have a choice to pick a side to stand on?
  • Do we abandon rules when our livelihood is at stake?

IN THIS EPISODE:

  • The inherited border — drawn before we arrived
  • Tijuana 1979 — alone in a motel room with yellowish curtains
  • The vase — the small plane — the pounding heart
  • The naturalization question I didn't understand but answered anyway
  • The friend who drove me — who later became my husband
  • Honor and pride go out the window when survival is the only thing that matters
  • The woodcarver on the Victoria Falls Bridge crossing the Zambezi River
  • The randomness of the cards handed down to us — the absurdity of life itself

THE EPISODE IN ONE LINE:

"The randomness of the cards handed down to us makes who we become who we are — it is the absurdity of life itself."

NEXT EPISODE:
Forgiveness. What it costs. What it frees. And whether we can forgive what we never fully understood.

SHARE YOUR STORY:
lu@leslancreativestudio.com

CONNECT WITH OPEN HEART PODCAST:

Open Heart with Lu Leslan is for anyone who aspires to understand themselves and the world more deeply. Through honest personal stories, philosophical insights, and practical wisdom, each episode invites you to live with more clarity, courage, and compassion. Subscribe and share with someone ready to open their heart.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Lu's first documentary: Take a Bow: The Ingrid Clarfield Story (2011)

SPEAKER_00

Do we know we inherited the border between nations without knowing the human suffering? Do we have a choice to pick a side to stand on? Do we abandon rules when our livelihood is a stake? Welcome to Open Heart Podcast. I am Lou Leslan, your host. This is a podcast where we share ideas, stories, and questions with an open heart so we can be kinder and wiser to ourselves and each other. Every week we'll discuss a topic where I share my observations, ideas, and questions with you. And I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and reflections too. Please send them to Lou at Lesland Creative Studio.com Today's topic is the border. The border. Do we ever question how the border was drawn and what it cost in human lives? The border between nations is the history of human suffering. We do not want to see it with eyes wide open. It would take curiosity and humility to understand the ground we are standing on. In nineteen seventy nine I found myself stuck in Tijuana, Mexico. My family had immigrated to the United States in fall of nineteen seventy eight. Our visitor visa expired. I had just started at Arizona State University as an undergraduate student. My mother said you can get a student visa now. You are officially a student. Without doing much investigating, my friend, who later became my husband, drove us to Tijuana together. When I arrived at the US consulate and showed them my passport, they denied my visa. They gave me a list of documents I needed in order to cross the border. I was alone. In a motel room with yellowish curtains. That's when the line between right and wrong gets blurry. When survival is the only thing that matters, everything else disappears. I sat in that room for a few days, making phone calls, thinking, how do I get myself out of here? I came up with an idea. I called a taxi, went to a market, bought a vase, wrapped in a gift box, asked a taxi to take me to the nearest airport, bought a ticket to San Diego, walked to the small plane, pretending everything was okay. When I landed in San Diego, going through customs, the officer asked, What were you doing in Tijuana? I said, I was shopping and show him my purchase. Then came another question. When were you naturalized? I replied, nineteen sixty eight, or something like that. This happened decades ago. I actually didn't fully understand the question, but I answered it anyway. I was cleared. I called my mother immediately, told her I'll be taking the next flight back to Phoenix. My heart was pounding. I was surprised, elated. The strategy worked. Looking back, it could never happen now. Was it a blessing or a blessing in disguise? What I know is this. Honor and pride go out of the window when survival is the only thing that matters. We are ultimately designed for survival. Life goes on no matter what happens. Borders come in many forms. Decades later, I met a wood cover on the Victoria Falls Bridge crossing the Zambezi River, the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, who cross it every day for a living. He walked with me and told me about his shop on the Zambia side of the bridge. He walks back and forth every day, hoping to make a few more dollars to feed his family and give his children an education. I asked the question, did he choose to be a wood carver for a living? The randomness of the cards handed down to us makes who we become who we are. It is the absurdity of life itself. This has been episode five of season three The Border. Next time forgiveness. What it costs, what it frees, and whether we can forgive what we never fully understood. Thank you for joining me. I'd love to hear from you. Please share your comments, stories, and questions. Send them to lube a lesslincreative studio.com. This is a podcast where we share ideas, stories, and questions with an open heart so we can be kinder and wiser to ourselves and each other. Take care.