Closeup photo of journaling on beach with blue blanket and sunglasses. — Daily August journal prompts

Photo White bear studio/stock.adobe.com

Journal through the month of August with me with these daily journal prompts for August! These August journal prompts explore a variety of topics. In August we’ll journal about the life we imagine versus the life we live, living life with all five senses, and how we respond to the ups and downs of life. We’ll also do a few fun journaling exercises involving poetry, free association, our dreams, and a personality test.

P.S. If you’re looking for journal prompts for a different month, find your monthly journal prompts here!

Journal prompts for August

Journal Prompts for August 1st

Think about a moment in childhood when you imagined what a future time in your life would be like. The imagined future time could be a big or small life moment; it could be an event that was happening the next week, imagining what life would like two years in the future, or what life as an adult would be like. What did you imagine this future moment would be like? What did you imagine this future moment would feel like? What was the future moment like in reality? How did the future moment feel in reality? What was similar about the moment you imagined and the moment you experienced? What was different about the moment you imagined and the moment you experienced? Did the moment you imagined influence how you experienced the moment in reality? If so, how?

Journal Prompts for August 2nd

What scent brings up the strongest emotions for you? What emotions does this scent bring up? Write about a time when this scent brought up strong emotions. Why does this scent bring up strong feelings for you?

Journal Prompts for August 3rd

Think about a time in your life when everything was going particularly well. What was going on in your life at this time? What emotions did you experience? What kind of things did you say to yourself about why things were going well?

Journal Prompts for August 4th

Take the HEXACO-PI-R Personality Test. Do you think the personality test that you took accurately reflects something about your personality? What about the results of the personality test didn’t surprise you? What surprised you? If the personality test resulted in any new insights for you about who you are, what can you do with this information in your daily life? What general reflections do you have about this personality test?

Journal Prompts for August 5th

How often do you imagine or think about what a future moment in your life will look like? What types of future moments are you most likely to spend time thinking about? What types of future moments are you least likely to spend time thinking about?

Journal Prompts for August 6th

Think about a time in your life when things were not going well. What was going on in your life at this time? What emotions did you experience? What kind of things did you say to yourself about why things weren’t going well?

Journal Prompts for August 7th

What taste brings up the strongest emotions for you? What emotions does this taste bring up? Write about a time when this taste brought up strong emotions. Why does this taste bring up strong feelings for you?

Journal Prompts for August 8th

Write out a description of any dream you remember having. Why do you think you dreamt this? If you want more tips on how to write about your dream to help you understand it, check out the posts on How to Keep a Dream Journal and A Dream Journal Example Entry.

Journal Prompts for August 9th

When you imagine, or think about, future moments in your life, do you spend more time imagining likely scenarios or unlikely scenarios? What types of likely scenarios do you most commonly spend time imagining? Why do you think you spend more time imagining this kind of likely scenario? What types of unlikely scenarios do you most commonly spend time imagining? Why do you think you spend more time imagining this kind of unlikely scenario?

Journal Prompts for August 10th

Choose a sense to focus on (smell, sight, taste, touch, sound). Take a few deep breathes and focus on only that sense for two minutes noticing everything you can. Write about what you noticed. How did this exercise feel? What emotions did you experience? What physical sensations did you experience?

Journal Prompts for August 11th

Does your “average day” look different when you feel like things in your life are generally going well as opposed to when you feel like things in your life are not going well? In your journal, describe an average day when things are going well. In your journal, describe an average day when things aren’t going as well. Are there similarities? Are there differences? What do you make of these similarities and/or differences?

Journal Prompts for August 12th

Think about a time you tasted something bitter and describe the experience in detail. Think about a time you tasted something salty and describe the experience in detail. Think about a time you tasted something sour and describe the experience in detail. Think about a time you tasted something sweet and describe the experience in detail. Did you consciously remember noticing all of these details in the moment of the experience? When you’re eating, how connected are you usually to your sense of taste?

Journal Prompts for August 13th

Think about a moment as a teen when you imagined what a future time in your life would be like. The imagined future time could be a big or small life moment; it could be an event that was happening the next week, imagining what life would like two years in the future, or what life as an adult would be like. What did you imagine this future moment would be like? What did you imagine this future moment would feel like? What was the future moment like in reality? How did the future moment feel in reality? What was similar about the moment you imagined and the moment you experienced? What was different about the moment you imagined and the moment you experienced? Did the moment you imagined influence how you experienced the moment in reality? If so, how?

Journal Prompts for August 14th

How often do you feel pleasant emotions when you’re imagining a future moment? How often do you feel unpleasant emotions when you’re imagining a future moment? Are there certain types of moments or scenarios you imagine that are more likely to bring up pleasant emotions? Are there certain types of moments or scenarios you imagine that are more likely to bring up unpleasant emotions?

Journal Prompts for August 15th

Start with the word “nightfall” and write down the first word that comes to mind next. Now write down the first word that comes to mind after that word. Try to feel rather than think the next word. Continue until you’re at the bottom of the page. Look back at the page; which word association was the most surprising to you? Why do you think you made that connection?

Journal Prompts for August 16th

Look at this list of scents and write about a memory that you have related to one of these scents: pine, dirt, perfume, orange, lavender, roses, grass, cinnamon, coffee, tea, jasmine, lemon.

Photo of bike sitting in long grass in summer in front of setting sun. — *Photo Looker_Studio/stock.adobe.com*

Journal Prompts for August 17th

Think of a few moments when a friend was experiencing a hard time. Make three columns in your journal. In the first column, write a short description of what your friend was going through. In the second column, write down anything you remember saying to your friend about the situation they were going through. In the third column, write down any explanations you provided to yourself to explain your friend’s situation (e.g., “Life is hard,” “They brought this on themselves by…,” “God works in mysterious ways,” etc.). Did the explanations you provided yourself influence your emotions in this moment? Did the explanations you provided yourself influence how you responded to your friend?

Journal Prompts for August 18th

Think about a time a particularly beautiful sight moved you emotionally. Write about what you saw and how it felt. What emotions did this experience bring up? Why do you think this particular sight was so emotionally powerful for you?

Journal Prompts for August 19th

Thinking back to imagining future moments when you were a child. Did imagining future moments help you in any way? Was imagining future moments harmful to you in any way? Reflecting on your life now, does imagining future moments help you in any way? Is imagining future moments harmful to you in any way?

Journal Prompts for August 20th

What song do you have the strongest emotional reaction to? What emotions does this song bring up? Write about the first time you remember this song bringing up strong emotions for you.

Photo woman in red dress sitting outside in summer on blanket next to picnic basket journaling. — *Photo Syda Productions/stock.adobe.com*

Journal Prompts for August 21st

In an average day, how often do you consciously pay attention to and experience pleasant sensations associated with scent? In an average day, how often do you consciously pay attention to and experience pleasant sensations associated with sound? In an average day, how often do you consciously pay attention to and experience pleasant sensations associated with touch? In an average day, how often do you consciously pay attention to and experience pleasant sensations associated with sight? In an average day, how often do you consciously pay attention to and experience pleasant sensations associated with taste? Is it easier to pay attention to some of your senses than others?

Journal Prompts for August 22nd

Write about a time when touch brought you comfort (this could be a hug from someone, time spent with a pet, a blanket with a particular texture, etc.). What did the experience feel like? What emotions did the experience bring up?

Journal Prompts for August 23rd

Think about a time in your childhood when you were having a hard moment. How did adults in your life respond to you? What did the adults in your life say to you? Did the adults in your life provide any explanations for the hard moment? Did you find the responses or explanations of the adults in your life helpful? When you’re going through a hard life moment now, do you respond to yourself in similar ways?

Journal Prompts for August 24th

Think about a moment as an adult when you imagined what a future time in your life would be like. The imagined future time could be a big or small life moment; it could be an event that was happening the next week, imagining what life would like two years in the future, or what life would like after an anticipated change. What did you imagine this future moment would be like? What did you imagine this future moment would feel like? What was the future moment like in reality? How did the future moment feel in reality? What was similar about the moment you imagined and the moment you experienced? What was different about the moment you imagined and the moment you experienced? Did the moment you imagined influence how you experienced the moment in reality? If so, how?

Journal Prompts for August 25th

Think about a texture that you find pleasant (this could be a food texture, clothing texture, etc.). Write about this texture in as much detail as possible. What does it feel like? What emotions do you associate with it? Why do you think you find this texture pleasant?

Closeup photo of white daisies. — *Photo Svetlana Kolpakova/stock.adobe.com*

Journal Prompts for August 26th

Overall, how do you feel about the role imagining future moments and future scenarios plays in your life? Is the way you approach imagining the future helpful to you? Is it harmful to you? Are there changes you want to make in this area of your life? If so, how can you approach making this change in a way that is kind and helpful to yourself?

Journal Prompts for August 27th

Write about a childhood memory of having a pleasant emotional response to a sound, scent, or taste. Write down everything you can remember about the experience and how it felt. What emotions did you experience? What physical sensations were associated with those emotions?

Journal Prompts for August 28th

Read A River Slips by Cole Swensen (or choose another poem to read). What emotions do you connect to this poem? What memories do you connect to this poem? Why do you think you made those connections?

Journal Prompts for August 29th

What sound brings up the strongest emotions for you? What emotions does this sound bring up? Write about a time when this sound brought up strong emotions. Why does this sound bring up strong feelings for you?

Journal Prompts for August 30th

Think of a few moments when a friend was experiencing a great moment in life. Make three columns in your journal. In the first column, write a short description of what your friend was experiencing. In the second column, write down anything you remember saying to your friend about the situation they were going through. In the third column, write down any explanations you provided to yourself to explain your friend’s situation (e.g., “They worked hard for this,” “They deserve this,” “They are lucky,” etc.). Did the explanations you provided yourself influence your emotions in this moment? Did the explanations you provided yourself influence how you responded to your friend?

Journal Prompts for August 31st

Look back at your journal entry for August 17th and reflect on how you respond to your friends’ hard times. Do you respond to your own hard times in a similar way? Do you say the same, or similar, things to yourself? Do you provide the same explanations to yourself? If yes, why do you think that is? If no, why do you think that is? Look back on your journal entry for August 30th and reflect on how you respond to your friends’ great moments. Do you respond to your own great moments in a similar way? Do you say the same, or similar, things to yourself? Do you provide the same explanations to yourself? If yes, why do you think that is? If no, why do you think that is?