I have recently discovered how important art has been to me over the years. I never kept a diary as a child, as I very wisely, in my opinion, realized that the best way to keep a secret is not to write it down. That, and I didn't see the point. However, as I was looking through drawers filled with old drawings, I could see that my drawings amounted to the same thing. I was able to see how my style changed over the years (and I'm talking about drawings I did in elementary school and earlier). These were changes like moving from people standing in the middle of a page to drawing people only from the side or from the back, and eventually "action shots;" I would go through phases of drawing people in long, flowing robes, to drawing fairies and angels, to drawing schoolchildren in plaid uniforms.
In addition to being able to see improvements and changes in my drawings, I could recognize people and events in my drawings. For example, after a week spent at summer camp, I might have drawn a series of pictures of people swimming in a river, and when I was interested in Russian culture, I did several Russian landscapes and historical drawings. I can even spot the faces of friends and teachers who were important in my life in my drawings.
Today, I don't do so much drawing, and I don't have the equiptment excel at photography, but still my work closely reflects my life. I will finally be taking a photography class this year (it's a school class, so my parents will have no choice but to allow me to purchase a better camera), and I am certainly looking forward to improving my art once more.