I'm not sure if this would be philosophical, I'm rather horrible with finding the right categories because of jagged interpretation of what I'm getting at and what they're really for.

Anyways, it's been on my mind lately what with my third year of college ending. I need to pay off some student loans and get my driver's licence while I live at my parents for a little bit and enjoy a rather short summer job.

Hence why I've been thinking about the topic recently, and I'm itching for second opinions on the matter. What does it mean to grow up? There's different kinds of growing up for different parts of us, and we're not all at the same level even at the same age. Do you think males and females grow up at different rates? And on that topic is there some areas where one would be more progressed than the other and vice versa? And most importantly, how do you think someone grows up in the first place?

I have a rather negative view of growing up so if you're not interested in being negative, please don't continue reading.

To me growing up means that you're chained up by society more and more. The older you get, the more responcibilities you have and the less freedom you get. You have rules to abide, money to make, taxes to pay, expenses, people to take care of, ...

Then there is the effect all this has on the mind. We can no longer afford to dream, imagine and slowly all magical things are replaced by cold hard facts or simply a lack of time. We lose our imagination, our mental innocence and become indoctrinated into the present day society.

Sadly growing up is inevitable, it's a part of our biology and a necessary path ... but I do think we can fight to keep at least a small part of that innocence alive. Don't just submit to society and don't just take everything for granted. Keep using your imagination, keep dreaming when you can.

Now that I think about it, that's actually how I viewed it when people said I have to grow up, or that another person should grow up. It's just erasing your personality and acting like boring old everyone else who can't keep that bit of fun in their life, or that spring in their step. It's a little disheartening to see. But I make sure I keep walking on those narrow edges near the street and balance my way across it while I'm walking somewhere.

i agree with zan in the sense of people wanting u to "act your age" and things

but growing up as coming of age...i guess its realising who you are

I think Zan is right that 'growing up' comes with conforming to what is expected of you but I also believe that growing up changes the way we think in terms our place in the world. When we were little, nothing mattered and the trival problems that occured were sorted out for you. As we grow up, there is noone to sort out the problems and we must do it ourselves. I suppose it is all part of the cycle, we were children once and now we have be responsible and try not to lead young minds astray!

yes! thats a good point too..becoming independent and taking responsibility for things..growing up is a number of things really

I was watching some of the movie Jumper the other day, and one of the characters said they had to grow up some time in reply to why she didn't want to go to Rome again like she wanted to. Another big thing I equate growing up with is giving up on your dreams.

that i disagree with....you don't have to be young to dream...there are many people who do achieve their dreams or make a sincere attempt at doing so

i dont think its giving up your dreams...its maybe more seeing less value in dreams..but then again this kind of thing is more related to personality type i think

Dreams change as we grow up. They tend to become more realistic and less dreamy. Whether that's a good thing or not I'm not going to say but I do agree that certain dreams are given up on as we grow up.

Hopefully they're always replaced by others though because a life without dreams isn't very appealing.

Hence why the world (or a lot around us anyways) is fairly miserable. Well, that and a lot of things. . . you know what I mean :p.

i dont think the world is miserable..its all a matter of perspective

The world is what we make of it.

Growing up I believe is all the things mentioned above, but also I feel it can be summed up in one word. Experience.

Some good and some bad, but as you're put in society, experience makes our dreams mature to ones of more attainable goals. Something we can make happen for ourselves, cause life isn't like the movies, where love happens from grade school on up, and you're born rich and without money troubles, or being different can really be overcome by sheer will alone and you'll never feel the pang of it in your heart again.

You do gain more responsibilities and I agree, must keep identity of self. With your friends, your lives, ppl you care about, words can change you. Even if you don't remember every word spoken, someones opinion or words will have changed who you are from childhood to adulthood.

I believe you're grown up ultimately, when you become aware of yourself and what you want from this life. My opinion really, but it's like so many ppl out there are miserable, because they let what others think rule their worlds and change themselves to be what they want them to be. Even fate would have you change to be what it wants or expects from you this life and some it's a right path and others it can be an interchangeable path. If you believe in fate that is.

I'm hopeful that others will grow up, get their own opinions and self indentity and start realizing the potential that lays dormant as they try to achieve whatever they have set out for themselves.

I also believe one never grows up. If you've ever sat amongst a group of friends or even coworkers and someone brings up a tv show you've watched like forever ago when you were young, and others join in, or a game you once played and everyone calls upon collective memory to remember the games and everyone walks away smiling. That's the child in you. The one without experience. Not grown up, cause of lack of experience. And yet, now we're not grown up, we have a lot to learn and experience and even ppl of 50 and older are never grown up, cause noone person can know everything.

I always let the kid in me shine through, it's just simply tempered by experience. Some say that makes me reckless and sometimes annoying and I agree. But I also know, I won't feel bad if someone tells me their an adult just cause they have experiences I haven't gone through yet, or because their austere. I can say I'm grown up and smile and walk with a happy wag of my tail, cause I've discovered who I am and fighting for her and her happiness, whereas they may have gone through life always trying to be someone their inner child wouldn't want to be.

if that makes sense.