Philosophy and Approach
The Sense of Place Story Method
When people recognize their own relationship to a place — through memory, experience, and reflection — something shifts.
Connection becomes personal rather than abstract.
Finding personal stories of connection to place is what inspires caring for places. That truth is at the core of all the programs I offer.
But what if we’re not in touch with these stories?
How do we find them in the midst of our busy, mobile lives?
How do we connect to a place we aren’t from — or don’t yet feel at home in? How do we find, as poet Mary Oliver wrote, “our place in the family of things”?
How do we heal the disconnect so common in our world today?
These questions led me to a process I’ve now used with parks, museums, historic sites, communities, and individuals for more than two decades.
I call it the Sense of Place and Story Method.
People come to this work from different disciplines.
For some, it is about crafting narratives or experiences that awaken connection, caring, and action.
For others, it is about reconnecting with themselves and their surroundings, and finding more meaning and creativity in their lives.
For everyone, the deeper work is the same: strengthening our relationship with the places we inhabit — and through that, deepening our connection with ourselves and others.
Whether designing visitor programs, leading community initiatives, or developing creative projects, this work offers tools and practices that shift both how you work and how you think about what you create.
Interpreters develop programs that become meaningful experiences. Communities and organizations strengthen identity, belonging, and stewardship.
Individuals uncover stories rooted in lived connection.
How this work unfolds
All of my programs follow a shared arc of discovery:
Connection → Meaning → Story → Caring → Engagement
This reflects how people come to know and care about places, personally and collectively.
Defining a Sense of Place
In this framework, a sense of place is a meaning-making process that evolves over time. It begins where knowledge and lived experience intersect.
Sense of Place Stories
These are stories that hold meaning that emerge from reflection and integration of what you know and have experienced about a place. This is what helps make the shift from place knowledge to place relationship.
When that shift happens — from information to connection — it influences what we feel called to express, create, and share, and reshapes how we relate to the places around us.
A place relationship is a living exchange between self, place, memory, and meaning.
The Sense of Place and Story Compass
To help participants stay oriented in this process, I developed a compass model that brings together four core areas of exploration. Each experience may begin at a different point on the compass, but all four dimensions are engaged over time.
Knowledge of Self: Learning from personal stories, memories, and lived insights.
Knowledge of Place: Exploring layered histories, cultural narratives, ecological realities, and multiple perspectives.
Craft of Story & Meaning-Making: Reflecting, integrating, and shaping meaning into stories and expressive forms.
Craft of Engagement: Developing techniques, tools, and practices that foster deeper connection and impact.
How This Work Emerged
This work first began while I was traveling as a full-time touring songwriter. I would return to places I loved, only to find them dramatically changed. I wanted to do something if I could, to help slow that trend.
It wasn’t because people weren’t connected. At concerts, when I sang about my own relationships with places, people would come up afterward and share their stories—about places they’d loved and lost, and places they’d loved and saved.
I saw how powerful remembering sense of place stories could be for inspiring connection, caring, and belonging.
That realization led me to create workshops for communities and nonprofits, where people uncovered their own stories of place. Participants consistently left feeling more connected—to themselves, their surroundings, and one another.
These early workshops grew into the programs I now offer as interpretive training for parks, museums, and historic sites, and into programs for writers, creatives, and communities. They became my Sense of Place Story Method and my Sense of Place and the Art of Interpretation training, which I offer at sites across the country today.
Wondering What’s Possible With This Approach?
For Interpretive Professionals
Design programs that move beyond information delivery into meaning-making experiences visitors remember.
Explore Trainings →
For Community Organizations
Offer experiences that strengthen collective identity and inspire stewardship.
Explore Community Engagement →
For Writers & Creatives
Discover stories that resonate because they are rooted in place and meaning.
Explore Programs Offered →
For Tourism & Heritage Organizations
Create experiences that bring a true sense of place to life.
Explore Keynotes →
