In one month, I will officially make the transition from teenager to adult with my 20th birthday. It’s interesting to think about how fast my childhood and teenage years have gone by and how much my perspective on the world has changed over the last nineteen years.

A few days ago, snowflake posted the following comment to the coming of age post “Boxes”:

“I completely feel for you. The littlest things, the ones that you'd never imagine would impact your life in the slightest, sometimes change you the most. The thing is, and this can be good or bad, that you don't change back.

Frankly, I'm sick of losing innocence. I yearn for those days when I had no idea what was going on in the world, when my idea of a bully was someone who refused to be my partner in gym class, and when my family was nothing less than perfect. Adults wonder why teenagers are so moody. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the weight of the whole world comes crashing down on your shoulders, before you can even blink.”

What do you girls think about the loss of innocence and growing older? What is good or bad about losing innocence? Do you think that it's possible to maintain a child's outlook on life even as you learn more about society and life?