Maru
First off, where are those textbook meanings to be found? I have many textbooks, and they by no means always agree with each other. Not so much that they were in outright contradiction to one another; often, it's more a matter of what aspect of a given card they highlight.
For every card is a symbol that covers a multitude of meanings. So I like to study different people's take on a card. To see what clicks. And to relate those insights to my own experiences with a card as a reader.
It's as though Tarot talks to me in a certain language. After about 30 years of study, I believe that I do have a fairly good command of that language. But that doesn't mean that every connotation of each card is always available to me.
In the beginning, I too was rather going with textbook meanings. I think, for many, this is the best way to go, initially. But at some stage, those meanings expanded in order to no longer give me a bunch of keywords, but to tell me coherent stories. So I continue to listen attentively to the cards' narratives, learning not only about the specific situations they talk about, but also their very language in all its complexity, while at the same time, my awareness and holistic thinking improve.
So true. I've been pulling together a small cataloguing system and at some point I figure I will have to cross the bridge of writing actual card definitions and that just seems so daunting... as far as I'm concerned there can be a vast array of meanings... I think each reader relates different to the energy of a card (or whatever you call it)... but I guess as long as your own language/lingo doesn't contradict itself it's OK