Sunday, January 3, 2016

Simplify Then Add lightness


This post has been coming for a while now, but I've kept putting it off with an absolute tsunami of excuses, prevarications & mental sleight of hand. yet it still was there a marked date that just needed recognition. Anyone who has been following this blog for a while will be painfully aware of how it has limped along in the recent past and that I've struggled to maintain any consistency with its output. This has been due to a lot of different factors that I won't go into as they are really just a catalogue of excuses hiding the actuality that maintaining The Parrish Lantern, in the way I'd like is no longer feasible, in fact the conditions in which I once sang out from this blog no longer exist. This was finally brought to a point that I could no longer  ignore & I came to realise  that the "marked date" had finally arrived when I was thinking about this new year and my aims, which was beautifully & succinctly summed up by a quote I saw on Pinterest :

In light of this I thank all of you who have been on this journey with me & apologise for the impromptu stops along the way, but this is now the end point of The Parrish Lantern, journey. So I now say goodbye, wish you well on your own continued travels and hope to see you around this world of books that we all have created a part of. May your new year bring you all you need & at least some of what you wish for.

Goodbye
Parrish Lantern 
 

16 comments:

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

These are the kind of posts I don't like reading. I will be sorry to see you go, Gary. Although I wasn't a frequent visitor to your blog, I was familiar with your literary writings including those on poetry. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Brian Joseph said...

I am so sorry to see you go Gary. I do understand that the demands of blogging are sometimes too burdensome to maintain.

I loved visiting your site over the years.

Good luck with all your future endeavors.

Rise said...

The Parrish Lantern will be greatly missed, Gary. I greatly appreciate your many wonderful posts about books and writers and poems.
For me, this blog has come to occupy a unique niche in the poetic literary blogging world. I wish you well, my friend. I still hope you will make a fitful online appearance here and there.

Lucia Sasaki said...

Have a safe journey and thanks a lot for all your posts!!

me. said...

Sad news but I'd have to admit that over the past year have also contemplated the same, many thanks for the time you've put in to the posts you have written and also for the comments you've shared on my blog, they've been greatly appreciated. The poets, and writers that you've posted on have always been inspiring, it seems often that poetry is usually the genre that remains omitted on most literary blogs, something which can't be said of yours!.

Have to echo Rise's thoughts that perhaps when the time's right you'll be back, in some shape or form, although in the meantime as with before, all the best to you, with much thanks.

Bellezza said...

Oh, Gary. How well I understand. I will treasure the times that we did blog together, and I will hunt you down like a rabid dog (a term of endearment, contrary to how it sounds, that my beloved former principal used to say) on Facebook. Know that you have been, and are, a special part of my life.

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Prashant, Thank you & all the best for all your future paths - Enjoy.

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Brian, Thanks & will look forward to all your future endeavours, whether they are for the promotion of literature or fighting the rights & equalities of all who share our planet

@parridhlantern said...

Hello Rise, Thanks for the many literary shared journeys over the years & I will still pop up when the chance arises.

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Lucia, Thank you & enjoy whatever you do next.

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Me, Thanks for your support & for introducing me to a whole of writing & poetry from a part of the world I had little knowledge of & whose books sit proudly on my shelves, which I often read whilst sipping a glass of Nikka or chichibu, hope to keep learning from you

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Bellezza, My year off gave me a new perspective & blogging for me was always about the books & communication, for me that world doesn't exist anymore, and what was once a delight has become a chore that keeps taking me away from the books I want to read, meaning my bookshelves are full of books I want to read by writers I adore but who keep being postponed by new stuff coming through my door. No ones fault just there's only so much time in the day & I've come to realise that I'd rather be reading books than trying to find the time to write about them. Will see you about the usual social media sites & I must owe you a pic of one of this country's old churches as I've not sent one in a while. :-)

Bellezza said...

Yes, blogging has changed from a cozy world of books and communication that it once was. I've often thought about putting up a Closed sign myself, but am not completely ready for that yet. I would miss the read-alongs and challenges which do expand my reading knowledge. I hope you do send me a photo from time to time. I love those.

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Bellezza, with all the challenges & jury I'd say your blog is coming of age & can stand proudly amongst those other blogs who promote all things literary (translation or otherwise) so it would be a shame that while you still enjoy it that Dolce Bellezza, didn't go on to greater things. Just Enjoy

Violet said...

Oh. I know that feeling but every time I quit blogging I miss it and end up returning. I know you're made of sterner stuff, though. I wish things were still the same as they were years ago but blogging is so different now. Still, I feel sad that you're done with it. Best wishes, Gary. You might not realise, but your lovely Islay pics and your kind words really helped me through some tough days. Take care.

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Violet, thanks for your comment & take care of yourself & definitely don't let the B÷÷=%__$ grind you down