A New Philosophy for Living

What does it mean to live well, knowing everything will vanish without a trace? In the Season 3 finale of Open Heart, Lu gathers the threads of the whole season into one philosophy — the wisdom of effortless action. From the flow of playing the piano, to the pain and joy that arrive together, to the anger she has learned to turn into art, to the ancient words of Chuang Tsu — this is an episode about how to hold a finite life with an open hand. Not to grasp. Not to keep. Only to live it, fully, while we can.

SHOW NOTES

EPISODE 10 — A NEW PHILOSOPHY FOR LIVING

Everything vanishes without a trace. Everything. So let's enjoy the ride.

This episode asks:

• What if our existence is meaningless?
• Why do we care if anyone remembers us?
• How do I want to live my life, knowing everything will vanish without a trace?

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Effortless action does not mean to do nothing — it means to act without force or expectation
• The flow zone — losing yourself in playing the piano, letting it play by itself
• Pleasure and pain arrive together — one cannot exist without the other
• The day my mother gave birth to me: joy and pain, the first human connection
• How depression taught me to be a true friend to myself
• The demon within us is not our enemy — it is a part of us that has yet to be heard
• Turning anger into creativity, creativity into art, art into humanity
• The wisdom of Chuang Tsu and the Inner Chapters — to serve the mind, unmoved by sadness or joy
• The perfect human mind is like a mirror — it reflects but does not hold
• At the core of our existence, there is no label, no color, no category — just a human being
• The brokenness itself is the wisdom for living

THE EPISODE IN ONE LINE:
 "Everything vanishes without a trace. Everything. So let's enjoy the ride."

END OF SEASON 3:
 Open Heart will return September 3rd with Season 4 — more ideas, observations, and questions about what it means to be human, here on Earth.

SHARE YOUR STORY:
 lu@leslancreativestudio.com

CONNECT WITH OPEN HEART PODCAST:

• 🌐 Website: leslancreativestudio.com
• 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/open-heart-with-lu-leslan/id1861169448
• 🎵 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2duSwoSJVHFG8wn7SsC1F9
• ▶️ YouTube: https://youtu.be/C47yEyI19CM

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)

Transcript

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What if our existence is meaningless?

Why do we care if anyone remembers us?

How do I want to live my life, knowing everything will vanish without a trace?

Welcome to Open Heart podcast. I'm Lu 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 observation, ideas, and questions with you and I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and reflections too. Please send them to lu@leslancreativestudio.com.

Today's topic is: A New Philosophy for Living.

A new philosophy for living is the philosophy of living with the wisdom of effortless action.

It means finding the natural way to conduct one's life in relation to others. To act without self-interest. Without gain or loss. Without the need for completion.

Instead — to act with care. To act with devotion. To act with a centered mind.

Effortless action does not mean to do nothing. It means to do what one ought to do — without force, without expectation.

When I play the piano, I transform myself into the image, or the feeling, or both — and simply let it play by itself. You could call it the flow zone, where energy circulates.

It sounds easy. But it is anything but easy.

Having been on this planet for over half a century, I experience pleasure and pain at the same time. It is a deep understanding that one cannot exist without the other.

The day my mother gave birth to me was the day she experienced her pain — and her joy of becoming a mother. Beginning a new, profound connection to an infant she would come to know and care for. That is uniquely human.

When we look out to the horizon, we know we are given a life to live. And how we take care of the life we are given is the great gift we can give ourselves.

My depression, from being a human, taught me how to be a true friend to myself.

I felt so much pain from the news — suffering coming from all directions. My struggles came from nowhere and everywhere. It hurt to feel the suffering of others. It hurt to feel hopeless and helpless. It hurt to know that I am a human, capable of feeling what they feel — and yet I am here, and they are there.

My suffering comes from my anger.

And yet — ironically — anger is also the source of my energy.

The demon within us is not our enemy. It is a vital part of us that has yet to be heard.

If I use that energy well, I can turn anger into creativity. The creativity turns into art. And the art becomes a source of my humanity.

I want to share with you an idea from the Inner Chapters of Chuang Tsu — the philosopher who shaped Taoism with rigorous logic and a poet's imagination. Chuang Tsu was to Lao Tsu as Plato was to Socrates. I came to it through the beautiful translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English.

Chuang Tsu taught that some things in this world cannot be escaped. He called them the universal principles.

To honor those who gave us life, wherever we are — that is devotion.

To serve something greater than ourselves, whatever happens — that is loyalty.

And to serve our own mind — unmoved by sadness or joy, accepting whatever comes — that is the truest virtue.

Do what must be done, and give no thought to yourself. Then you will not have time to worry about loving life or fearing death.

Continue this way, and all will be well.

The perfect human mind is like a mirror. It reflects but does not hold.

We spend so much of our lives drawing lines — between ourselves and others, between what we are and what we are not. But at the core of our existence, there is no label, no color, no category. Just a human being.

We are all broken from the ebbs and flows of life. And the brokenness itself is the wisdom for living.

Does my life on this planet mean anything? Do I care who remembers me after I am gone? What do I want to leave behind for future generations?

These are the wild, hard questions — the ones that may take a lifetime to answer. But our time is finite. It grows shorter by the day.

I want to keep living my life to the best of my ability. And that is all I can do.

Everything vanishes without a trace. Everything.

So let's enjoy the ride.

This has been Episode 10, the finale of Season 3 — A New Philosophy for Living. 

Open Heart will be back on September 3rd with Season 4 — more ideas, observations, and questions about what it means to be human, here on Earth.

Thank you for joining me. I'd love to hear from you. Please share your comments, stories, and questions. 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.