X is for...

XENOPHILIA/XENOPHOBIA.

I honestly don't know why blogger and word both believe xenophilia is spelled wrong. That's the spelling straight from my dictionary. Stupid programs. Ah, well. Moving on.

Xenophilia is defined as an attraction to or admiration of strangers or foreigners.

Xenophobia, conversely, is defined as a fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners or anything foreign or strange.

Off the top of your head, can you name any xenophiles you know? How about xenophobes?
I bet you can.

As a writer, I have a natural interest in anything foreign or strange, since I write fantasy and the unusual plays a heavy part in designing a fantasy world. But in my life, I have tended to shy away from strange or foreign things. Is it possible to be both a xenophile and a xenophobe? Interesting thought.

Aren't we all full of contradiction?

I've grown quite a bit, most noticeably since I have taken my dream to be a writer to the next level--that level being to stop dreaming about it and actually work to make it happen. It's a long, slogging, uphill battle where I often feel as though I'm sliding backward more than inching forward.

But then, what's that great quote again? "The harder I work, the luckier I am."

So, what's your dream? And what are you doing to work toward making it a reality?