More than a cup of tea: Meaning construction in an everyday occupation

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Abstract
The objective world is given meaning through activity and language. The process of creating meaning takes place throughout life and is shaped by our social and cultural environment. Yet little is known about the role of everyday activity in the construction and maintenance of meaning. The paper describes a small scale, qualitative study designed to increase knowledge about meaning construction in one such occupation: tea‐drinking. There were two aims: firstly to identify the elements of making and drinking tea which elicited meaning and secondly, to discover whether elicited meaning and secondly, to discover whether these meanings were shared or unique to each individual. Drinking tea during semi‐structured interviews with five women provided a’ here and now’ focus which linked language and activity. Six shared categories of meaning emerged. These were meaning through reasons for tea‐drinking, the senses, objects used, the social context, and changes in lifestyle. Further study of other everyday activities, and amongst other social and cultural groups is recommended.

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