As some of you may have noticed, I have taken a long break from the internet. I disappeared for a while to devote all my time to my family, the holidays and all the hum drum activity of keeping several people warm, relatively calm (i.e. not injuring each other over trivialities or toys) and occupied during the cold, dark winter. (It’s just the beginning of winter but I’m already tempted to add “long” to the adjectives.)

As much as I like to complain about 2017, the end of that notorious year was an absolute dream for me personally. Kicking it all off, I hosted a large Thanksgiving party for my dear friends and family, all of whom were in great spirits and were overly generous with the praise (I love to cook). Then I fulfilled my childhood dream of going around singing Christmas carols! Yes, I always wanted to be a Christmas caroler! And I must confess, I love to sing even though I am a terrible singer! Thankfully, my audience of preschoolers tolerated my diva aspirations and cheerfully joined in (mercifully drowning me out). I went to nearly every Christmas party, Christmas market and celebration in my radius. I spent the most incredible day with my husband’s wise and gracious 86-year-old grandmother, baking and learning secret family recipes. And to top it all off, I traveled to the lush, hilly region of central Germany and enjoyed the first few days of 2018 in a cozy cottage nestled within pristine hills, forests and ski slopes.

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But I’m not here to tell you how perfect my life is or how great I am. Let’s begin 2018 with a bit of air clearing: Why do I blog? What’s my motivation in doing this? What, oh what could I possibly offer you dear reader?

First off, I don’t consider myself a blogger.

There are millions of bloggers who are prettier, smarter, fitter, more productive than I am—way more charming, and less likely to steal Radiohead lyrics :-). Just a quick glance at my Links & Friends page will prove just that. Obviously, I am blogging, but I consider myself mainly a fiction writer and a visual artist. (Note: I also write nonfiction, which are the personal stories indicated in this blog.) This digital field is an exciting new medium for me; I love to experiment with it like a kid playing with a new toy and it sure is fun!

I am working on two long-term, top secret projects that will be more immersive and larger in scale: a series of fiction books and a new website, that I hope may interest you as surely as they obsess preoccupy and excite me. These projects are also the reason why I am the most sporadic and unreliable of bloggers and a very good reason why you should sign up to my follower/ email list (on the sidebar, if you haven’t already) to catch all my stories and projects as fresh as they come!

Since I have just confessed to you that I am not a blogger, I also want to add that I am not a marketer. Though there is nothing wrong with that, it’s just not how I see my art. Now that’s all been cleared up, I can finally exhale and let out a primal scream! Let me add to the scream by blurting out another sales “no no”, the elephant in the room, to the gasps of all professionals and advertisers:

I do not know you. I will never claim to.

Contradictorily, all I want is to make art of lasting resonance, to make a connection—to connect with readers like you by way of self-reflection! Through my ridiculously determined self-exploration and self-obsession I hope to come out on the other side like an acrobat contorting herself through a hoop, intending, of all things, to find a new world at the other end! (Instead of my own ass!)

This blog represents that (foolhardy) plunge through the hoop. A dive deep down to unexplored realms of my artistic consciousness that may or may not resonate with you, dear reader.

And I wouldn’t continue with this insanity if it hasn’t actually proven itself time and time again! Yes, like the bizarre world of quantum physics, diving deep down through that mysterious invisible hoop does, in fact, lead somewhere! This may be the only way, no matter how absurd, that I can come close to describing the peculiarities of life, all its splendidness and tragedy, its profusion of dimensions beyond the three!

So, if you’re still reading, still interested, still curious, dear reader, thank you for staying with me! Thank you to those who accompanied me on all those dives in the gut punch of a year that was 2017! And here’s to many, many more exciting plunges in 2018 and beyond!

Welcome 2018!

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Text and images by M.P. Baecker

17 thoughts on “Clearing the Air”

  3. Was missing you so much! So glad to see your triumphant return, MP, and I can’t wait to hear more about your super secretive projects. Very happy to see you’ve enjoyed your time away from this rigmarole which can, at times, be such a time thief. Such is the lot of social media! And blogging, unlike writing or your other personal hobbies and callings, is more social media than anything else. I enjoy it, and the amazing connections I have made through it, but it certainly can’t be considered vocational!

    Well, for some, I suppose it is. And bless them for their efforts!

    But, welcome back, my friend … can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store for us!!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks so much Tom as always for your wonderful support! I actually lost some followers after publishing this post! So I’m probably too honest for my own good 👍😂! But as the saying goes, you have to stay true to you! I have incredible admiration for other bloggers who can do this well, you being one of them!

      Looking back, I think I might have to tweak this post a bit and add that although I consider myself a “fiction writer”, this blog also consists of nonfiction and personal stories from my life (which I will also begin to indicate in each story so that it’s not even more confusing). C’est La Vie!

      Liked by 1 person

      • That’s crazy to think anyone would abandon your blog for any reason, but crazier still for this post. We’re all just having fun, right? Oh well; they probably didn’t understand real writing, anyway. 😉

        Again, welcome back! Onward and up!!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Happy to hear you had such a wonderful holiday season. I think for many of us being able to reconnect with the love of friends and family helped dim the darker parts of whatever 2017 churned out for us. Looking forward to seeing your creative projects take flight!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thank you so much!

      I have to say, you have a beautiful blog that I love to visit! Bespoke Traveler is a favorite on my Reader! If you don’t mind, I’d like to add you to my “Links & Friends”. Your writing is luminous!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hooray! What a divine compliment. I would be honored to be part of your “Links & Friends.” Thank you so much. I am so excited to have a connection like you and be a part of your blogging circle.

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  5. Good to see a new post from you – filled with hope and positive energy. I could see you singing as you described it and it made me smile. Singing comes in many ranges “-) Just as long as you sing! The winter photos are beautiful! We didn’t get any snow – just the gray skies and wet. Look forward to seeing what 2018 inspires you to share! Hugs!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thank you! “Singing comes in many ranges” 😄 if only talent was measured in pleasure👍 then I’d be a winner! Luckily, my kids like my voice (they haven’t heard so many pop stars yet) so I get to sing to them every night!
      I hope 2018 will be a bright year for all of us! Big hugs!

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Those are fascinating images of front-lighted snow, symbolic of something waiting to spring forth, from hibernation to germination. Keep exploring yourself: self-flagellating, brooding, remonstrating, relishing, dreaming and smiling. I am a deep believer of the idea of catharsis; I explore the recesses of my own consciousness through you.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks always for your marvelous comments! I must add, I enjoy reading your work as well, I can’t help but feel a twinkle in my eye growing brighter and brighter as I read your smart, witty words!

      I’m putting so much effort that that “something waiting to spring forth”, as you put it so well, will manage to take a firmer hold of me and I can bring it out as completely as possible.

      Liked by 1 person

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