Most people don’t really know or have a reason to need to know what a narcissist is unless they’ve had the misfortune of being parented by one or being in a relationship with one - be it romantic or platonic. Narcissism is a broad term and realistically it’s not a label you can just thrust on someone as people often do, it’s a spectrum.

Upon conducting an analysis of a particular relationship I realized that the signs of a transactional friendship are there early on. A transactional friend is also known as a ‘social climber’. According to the Urban Dictionary, a social climber is those who become friends with someone else if that person has something that they want or need.

The reality of our world in the present day is that most of us are vastly unconscious of who we are and the subtle and powerful mechanics of how our bodies, minds and this universe operate. Because we are malinformed, we like to hang the responsibility for our own feelings and emotions onto each other.

Pay attention to the dynamics of you relationships. Do you tend to give more in some or take more in others? Do you change who you are to be accepted by certain individuals?