Inside. Out.

There's this very big concept that you learn to navigate as you grow up, known as "inside vs. outside." I mean this in the sense of not just "indoor voices" vs. "outdoor voices" -- though, also an important thing to know when you're older -- but also in the sense of who is in your inner circle and who is in your outer.

Complete strangers: outer.

Family: inner.

Friends: this is where it gets tricky. Your closest childhood friends you pretty much regard as family, and therefore, it's pretty safe to say that they're inner. But friends of friends, former friends of friends, exes, frenemies -- the list of layered friendships goes on and on. And determining whose side to take in an argument or whose relationship takes "priority" over another is just a bad situation to be in. But it happens.

And sometimes in the process of trying to sort that out, you start to wonder about everyone else's onion-like relationship layers. Where do you fall and how does that match up with where they fall into your own set of layers? It's a strange thing to think about, but then again, if life's riches lie in relationships, isn't it important to figure out which ones are false gold and which ones are real?