Thus far we have discussed the various kinds and meanings of special objects, but we have not looked at the process by which meaning is attributed to things in any detail. Yet cherished possessions attain their significance through psychic activities or transactions. Objects are not static entities whose meaning is projected on to them from cognitive functions of the brain or from abstract conceptual systems of culture. They themselves are signs, objectified forms of psychic energy. Whether through action or contemplation, objects in the domestic environment are meaningful only as part of a communicative sign process and are active ingredients of that process.

How a person interacts with objects makes considerable difference. In Chapter 1 we defined the person and the thing as two elements, and in this chapter we will explore the third term, the transaction or relationship between the person and thing. The mode of this transaction determines the goals around which one can shape a life course. The most inclusive term to describe the modes of meaning that mediate people with objects is perhaps cultivation (see Rochberg-Halton, 1979a,b.; 1980a).

Cultivation involves both senses of the verb “to tend”: to take care of or watch over (“she tends her plants regularly”), in other words, “to attend to”; and also to proceed or be directed on some course or inclination (“he tends to find the right way”), that is, “to intend” some aim.