Barcelona Journaling Festival 2025

This November, I’ve been invited to speak and lead a workshop at the Barcelona International Journaling Festival.

It’s the kind of invitation that makes me want to cry a little, dance a little, and pinch myself a lot.

I fan-girled over this festival lineup last year. These are the giants of therapeutic writing: people whose words have inspired mine for a long time. Kathleen (Kay) Adams in particular has lit the way for so much of my work. To now find myself alongside her is both surreal and humbling.

I’ll be offering a workshop called “Be The Elephant”: a phrase that woke me in the middle of the night. We’d just returned from a family trip to the bush. I was journaling about our encounters with elephants in the wild, and the stories came rushing in:
How elephants call each other by name (yes, really).
How they grieve their dead and hold memory in their bones (if you haven’t read The Elephant Whisperer, do yourself a favour).
How, in times of drought, they dig deep for water - unearthing hidden wells that go on to nourish not just themselves, but the entire ecosystem.

And much more… Come to Barcelona and I’ll tell you all about it! :)

That image stayed with me.
Isn’t that what journaling does?
We dig beneath the surface. We uncover what’s hidden.
We write our way back to the waters that sustain us and in doing so, we make space for others to drink too.

What an honour. What a joy. What a gift.

Barcelona, I’m coming: with a full heart and an open journal.