What does it mean to be young?

I recently finished the book History of Love by Nicolle Krauss , even though it was mind boggling with the switch of characters at a unsteady rate it was a nice book that contrasted the difference between adulthood and childhood. Alma, one of the characters found ways on how to fix issues that bothered her, I think this made her gain a snippet of adulthood. Leopold, another character in the book found out things that he didn't expect and when he did find something out he, he found out later. Litvinoff tried to impress others around him and gain attention while Bird wanted to be accepted by people around him. All of the issues these characters faced are like pieces of the coming of age experience, each piece makes up what we call adulthood.

Leopold's "piece" of coming of age really relates to growing up because we find out things that we don't want to but its only for the good. When we were younger we may have believed and had a strong thought that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy were real. The moment we found that they weren't real we were surprised and in disbelief because we believed in them so much and we looked for something in them. As little children we were also zoned out and in the world of freedom ; we felt young , wild and free, nothing could stop us from getting what we wanted except, time outs in the corner of course. 

"There are two types of people in the world: those who prefer to be sad among others, and those who prefer to be sad alone." This was a quote that stood out to me and I thought it really related to the coming of age experience. I say it is relatable because when your younger you are more dependent for certain things and as you grow older you seek more independence. Also when your sad you sometimes want people to comfort you and be sad with you but if the situation is serious and you want to be alone you choose that. It's all what makes you feel good in the long run. 

The characters in the book searched for many things and their is a quote similar to the characters , "And then I realized that I'd been searching for the wrong person." When the characters finally found what they were searching for they werent as pleased as they thought they would be. After they found what they wanted they maybe felt it was a waste of time since the anticipation they had for it was lost. Even when not getting what they wanted they learned from it and in the long run it was good. 

The coming of Age experience is one where we mature and see things in different standpoints. Each of us are different and we all have parts of us that are mature but at the same time we are still young on the inside. Even when we get older we still have traits from when we were 2 or 3 with us inside of us. That part of us that wants to cry is when we're 1 and facing the world for the first time. The part of us that feels hurt and surprised is when we were 4-7 and found out Santa is fake.