embracing a slow pace
A Van Le Exclusive
Welcome to Apple Hair!
Usually, in the CANON, I explore creating a fictional universe with the hopes that you’ll follow along with your own world. Every fourth week, I’m releasing an AU story or an exclusive with one of the members of Apple Hair. This time, we have Van, the leader of Apple Hair. He’s going to be talking about taking things slowly—or embracing a slow pace.
Want to read Apple Hair, the boy band fantasy novel, from the very beginning? You can start here! Apple Hair is a fictional, Asian American boy band from Hawaiʻi.
Welcome to the newsletter, and I’m excited to share this exclusive with you.
Hey. It looks like the other members have cleaned up their act a little bit. I’m a little bit skeptical about Seiya’s upcoming entry, but I guess I can’t fix everything at once. Today, I’m talking about embracing a slower pace.
First of all, the thing that spurred this letter for you was thinking about construction in Hawaiʻi. A cafe that was meant to open up a year ago finally had its grand opening. It seemed like forever since they promised to welcome people in. And of course, there’s the mess of the rail system, which seems like it’ll never get done. I won’t get too much into that.
All my life, I’ve been a bit afraid of a slow pace. Maybe I didn’t want to fall into too much of an island lifestyle. Maybe it was seeing both of my parents work so hard. And my older brother, too. It got so bad that I became impatient while eating a bowl of pho. If you know, you know. Pho isn’t something that can be eaten in just a few minutes. There’s the slurping of the soup, waiting for the noodles to cool down, putting in your basil and bean sprouts, and even squeezing a lemon in the middle of it all.
It took almost choking on a bite of noodles that made me rethink things. What if a “slow” pace wasn’t so bad after all?
I realized that people had different definitions of “slow.” I was comparing myself to people going at a hundred miles an hour, but that wasn’t realistic for me. Girl, I told myself. You’re going to burn out if you don’t do something soon. And why are you always comparing? Comparing really is the enemy. It steals so much, and it just keeps taking.
Right now, fighting for debut in Apple Hair means totally adjusting my timeline. Let’s say you’re trying to release a digital product. It might take you a few months, depending on how much you work a day. But while training in AWE Entertainment, I have to look in the timeline of years. I’ve heard of trainees who train for five years plus and don’t make it to debut.
I had to really look inside, to be really okay with that. Because in the end, it’ll be worth it. Stepping out on stage during debut day will be like finally finishing a bowl of noodles I’ve been working on for ages. It will be like winning my goldfish at the carnival.
Honestly, I’m going to keep going. And I’m more than happy to have my four members with me. Even though they have no problem driving me insane on the daily.
Always yours,
Van Le