Re transitional object: my T was going to NYC for a convention, before he left he gave me a NY Giants coffee mug (around the time they won the Superbowl, as I had predicted). The value of this ended up being, talking about all my angst around the gift - how could I take something so precious from him? when would I have to give it back to him? And figuring out what those questions meant IRL, in relation to my mother, whatever. Because it was so obviously NOT about a coffee mug. That FEELING - when do I have to give it back? - wasn't accessible to me otherwise, but it's a biggie, relating to my finances, relationships, home, friendships, virtually everything "owned". This is why T's ask us seemingly nonsensical questions, to trigger feelings. That's what I was thinking when you were kind of complaining about your T asking about what music did you like. You never know where something will take you. You don't know what memory is wired to what feeling, literally, in our huge computer brains. That's what makes it so exciting, so unpredictable, so inefficient!