FEATURE
Shared Stories and Common Purpose:
Building Community Resiliency and Crafting a New American Identity Through Interpretation
We are increasingly lonely, isolated, and angry, and this is causing crises on multiple fronts. Deaths of despair (from overdose, suicide, alcoholism, etc.), black-pilled nihilism, extremism, radicalization, and politically motivated violence are all on the rise. In the short time between when I submitted my original article draft and this issue went to press, the United States has witnessed multiple incidents of mass violence, including shootings at schools, churches, and government facilities as well as the assassination of a popular conservative political commentator in broad daylight. When news of these tragedies breaks, we rush to assign blame in ways that excuse our side and accuse the opposition, often with little regard for the actual evidence. Tensions are rising. The cultural and political divisions that separate red and blue America seem to be growing wider daily. A functional civil society requires a level of trust, cooperation, shared purpose, and common identity that feels increasingly hard to imagine today. However, interpretation can be part of a bulwark against this rising tide of fear and anger that is threatening to break the United States apart. Interpreters can tell an American story that embraces its aspirational principles of liberty and justice while using the times when we have failed to live up to them as a roadmap towards a brighter future for all people. At its best, interpretation inspires action, and that action can be used to repair our tattered social fabric. Interpretive sites are participatory spaces that help people build real world connections to community, a common history, and the planet. They can be places where people find purpose through storytelling, dialogue, service, and shared experience. Interpreters are already prepared to be facilitators of the complex and difficult discussions needed to repair our broken nation, heal social bonds, and create an American identity of which we can all be proud to be a part.
Across the United States, we are spending more time at home than ever before, and people across all demographics report having far fewer friends than in the past. Membership in all types of social organizations—from professional associations (including NAI) to sports leagues, book clubs, and other non-home/non-work gathering spaces—has declined significantly as well. At the same time, people are spending more time using addictive apps whose algorithms are tuned to promote outrage and to funnel people towards radical views and extreme content. We are, you could say, spending less and less time in spaces that promote unity and social cohesion (the sense that we are all part of something greater) and more and more time in spaces that break them down. A significant body of evidence proves that time in nature and increased connection to it improves our mental health and happiness. A 2015 meta-analysis of thirty different studies published in Frontiers in Psychology found that there were direct connections between nature connectedness, happiness, and life satisfaction. Nature connectedness has also been shown to help people manage stress and maintain psychological resilience. According to a 2013 report by Keith Ingulli and Gordon Lindbloom published in Ecopsychology, “Helping individuals establish a connection with the natural world may aid them in buffering themselves against psychological stress.” Simply by creating opportunities to access and connect with nature, interpretive sites and programs can help counteract the fear, anger, and loneliness that are eating at the core of American society. Research also shows that participation in communities and having strong social networks improves cohesion, builds trust, and guards against the consequences of isolation. A Harvard School of Public Health article from 2023 reports the benefits of social connection “include improved public health, community safety, resilience, economic prosperity, and the functioning of representative government.” Interpretive sites can and should be places where people find those connections.
A juvenile bald eagle who has not yet achieved its adult plumage is a great symbol for an America that has yet to achieve its greatest moments. Photo by Nathan Taxel.
Volunteer stewardship of the land brings people from diverse communities together. Photo by Nathan Taxel.
Be it through volunteerism or by joining groups of like-minded people for recreational and inspirational activities, interpretive sites give people the opportunity to gather around common causes and work collectively towards shared goals. Being active members of a community and joining together for its improvement counteract the feelings of powerlessness that are often associated with social isolation and reduced connection. When people feel empowered to make positive changes in their own communities, even at the smallest of scales, they are much more likely to see the institutions that exist within them as trustworthy and effective. Volunteer corps and friends' associations create strong social bonds around shared interests and values, as do clubs and guilds built around activities such as birdwatching, native plant conservation, or historic reenactment. Communities like these, which organically spring up around interpretive sites, are exactly the kind of antidote to isolation and social breakdown needed today. Organizations benefit from these groups through participants’ volunteer service and increased engagement, and participants benefit from the social interaction and connections facilitated by these organizations. Wherever possible, we should look for opportunities to facilitate the growth and development of these kinds of communities at our sites. As interpreters, we can also use our exhibits, programs, and activities to help members of the general public who are not already deeply engaged with our sites find meaning and purpose. Landscapes have always been a part of Americans’ national identity, and a shared sense of place can help people feel connected to one another and society as a whole. For example, the mythology of a limitless untamed American west—as flawed, one-sided, and harmful as it may be—has been a source of national pride and identity for many Americans for generations, and this mythology continues to be reflected in both policy and values across the country today.
Working together in service of nature brings communities together. Photo by Nathan Taxel.
Interpretive programs give people the opportunity to grow and learn together based on common interests. Photo by Nathan Taxel.
Interpretive sites can help people form a new sense of place and identity, which brings us together by connecting them with the cultural landscapes that result from the historical interaction between people and the environment. Since the 1980s, the National Park Service has recognized cultural landscapes as resources to be preserved because they “reveal our relationship with place and strengthen our understanding of historic events, significant people, and patterns in American history.” Common history and shared stories that connect to cultural landscapes can anchor identity and bring people together in ways that transcend typical social groups and boundaries. In its best forms, participants in interpretation are not mere spectators: they are active contributors in meaning-making, which can strengthen individual and group resilience. Interpretation helps people connect with landscapes and one another by promoting dialogue and reflection. Interpreters can also facilitate conversations about potentially divisive issues, such as the legacy of slavery in the modern United States. But when addressed through quality interpretation, these emotionally fraught conversations can be what brings people together rather than what divides them. Honest investigations of our past can inspire a vision of the future where everyone is better off and our nation reaps the benefits of renewed community trust, participation, environmental sustainability, and national unity. Interpreters can speak to the aspirations at America’s foundation—that ALL people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—and can inspire action based on the continuing (almost 250 years and counting) effort to achieve it. Interpreters are already well-versed in mediating difficult conversations and confronting emotionally fraught topics, which makes us well-positioned to participate in the creation of new national stories. Today, most introductory interpretive training, including NAI’s Certificate of Interpretive Guiding (CIG), include specific skills and techniques for facilitating meaningful conversation and reflection which are collectively known as dialogic interpretation. The CIG teaches an approach called Mission-Based Dialogue (MBD), which is “an interpretive technique in which participants gain mutual perception and understanding through active engagement in the communication process.” MBD is designed to promote trust, openness, honesty, and equal participation amongst participants, making it an effective tool for this project.
State wildflowers like this California Poppy are an example of the intersection between patriotism and interpretation. Photo by Nathan Taxel.
Other modalities of dialogic interpretation include the National Park Service’s Audience-Centered Experience (ACE), which is founded on the “belief that audiences’ perspectives and contributions add richness to the unfolding legacy and values of America,” and Participatory Interpretation as outlined by Dr. Jackie Gilson of InterpActive. Dr. Gilson’s model provides specific tools, such as the Talk Type Mountain, to help people engage in challenging topics. Heritage sites and the stories we hold have a clear role in building new national identities and stories, and these dialogic techniques (and many more like them) are why interpreters could be at the spearhead of this effort.
The Talk Type Mountain is a simple framework for structuring conversations developed by Jacquie Gilson and InterpActive. Photo courtesy of Jacquie Gilson.
By building community and trust before entering into difficult or emotional conversations, the Talk Type Mountain is an effective interpretive tool. Photo courtesy of Jacquie Gilson.
In the meantime, building relationships and resiliency in your own communities is a form of fighting back. Nurture your connections with people and the planet and you will be a force for good in this world! In an age of censorship and crackdown on narratives of which the current regime disapproves, we need solidarity in the field of interpretation more than ever. If you are interested in finding community, connection, and purpose with fellow interpreters and protecting the integrity of our field, the NAI regions and sections are a great place to do it. Learn more about NAI Regions and Sections. Finally, if you're personally suffering from isolation or despair and its associated symptoms, here are two excellent resources for support:
- National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988 or visit 988lifeline.org
- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 and you’ll be connected to a trained Crisis Counselor. Crisis Text Line provides free, text-based support 24/7.
If you care about the future of our nation, now is the time to act. As interpreters, we have an opportunity and responsibility to work outside of political borders and engage with all Americans in ways that build trust, promote resiliency, and contribute to a renewed social fabric. The future of our nation depends on a new inclusive American story that celebrates what a sustainable, pluralistic, and multiracial America could be for all of us—and we as interpreters can help create it.
