August: Mono No Aware

Hello, journaling friends!

In 2025, our monthly Cafe Analog’s friendly journaling challenge #caprojectme25 will take its prompts from beautiful words/phrases from various languages around the world! We think it will be a fun way to start the year while also allowing you to design a spread based on the essence of a word/phrase, making it very personal to you! We will also have three journaling prompts for you to choose from as a way for you to connect more with the month’s word/phrase selection! The phrase for August comes from Japanese: Mono no aware.

As summer dissipates into the dispersing clouds and autumn rolls along slowly but steadily, we are being made aware of the changes in our surroundings: the color of the sky, the crisp sound of the falling leaves, the drop in temperature… everything allows us to think about how impermanent things are. In Japan, mono no aware (物の哀れ) describes a deep, bittersweet feeling toward the transient nature of things.

• Mono (物): Means “things” or “objects”.
• No (の): A particle meaning “of” or “of the things”.
• Aware (哀れ): An archaic exclamatory word from the Heian period, expressing a sudden, inarticulate feeling of surprise or wonder, similar to “ah!” or “oh!”.

The phrase carries an emotional awareness of the ephemeral nature of beauty and existence. It’s not only about the feeling of sadness when things pass, but also a mixture of joy and melancholy at this beautiful and inevitable nature in life: from the fading of cherry blossoms to the passing of time itself.

This month, create a spread with your stationery supplies or other materials to capture the essence of the phrase mono no aware for you. If the word is a journal spread, what would it look like? Here are some creative journaling prompts for you to choose from:

1.

FLEETING MOMENT

Think of an instance in your life when you experienced changes, the passing of time, or the change of seasons that you still remember vividly or dearly. What happened? What changes? What disappears, and what remains? Reflect on how you felt knowing that everything in life, including that exact moment, was temporary, and how you might carry or keep the memory forward.

2.

BITTERSWEET

Write about a recent experience that brought you joy but also a tinge of sadness when you knew it was coming to an end.  Explore the emotions of this duality, and how you can find beauty in both the celebration of the moment and the acceptance of its passing or completion. What are the things the word “bittersweet” reminds you of?

3.

MEMORY COLLAGE

Choose three of your favorite memories from August, whether from this year or in the past. Write a few sentences about each memory, focusing on what made it significant and why you’re still remembering each one. Reflect on what has changed since then and what those memories evoke for you as you look towards the future.

Feel free to share your pages and spreads with the hashtag #caprojectme25 if you’d like others who join the project to find yours, and you can also see how others translate mono no aware into their journal pages! We hope these prompts will allow you to feel a connection with the passing of time and the impermanence of everything in our lives—accepting it as a way for us to fully appreciate beautiful moments and create memories.

When you open your journal and see all the pages filled with handwritings and photos from experiences and feelings that have passed, you may now think of mono no aware!

love, H.