I would appreciate having your analysis of the dream described below. Its broad outlines are still quite vivid in my mind although it happened at least six weeks ago, and I have put nothing down in writing about it until now.

First, here are a few biographical details. I am a retired lawyer in my late seventies, have been blind since my twenties, and I have been married to the same wife for more than forty years. I have never practiced before, or followed the proceedings of, the Supreme Court. In retirement I have tried, without much success, to be a published writer.

In the dream, I am Martin Ginsburg, husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (In fact I know only what the average newspaper reader would know about the Ginsburgs. I had to go to a reference work to learn his first name. I am not even sure if he is a lawyer).

The content of my dream was not conveyed by the usual visual images, but by a written text which seemed to unfold as the dream progressed. I often experience my dreams this way, as do other blind people. But this dream was quite unusual because, in it, I am not myself, but Martin Ginsburg.

As Martin Ginsburg in the dream, I am engaged in the act of writing about my marriage to Justice Ginsburg. In the account, we were both previously married, and I present our marriage in lyrical terms as unusual, wonderful, almost perfect.

I, “Martin,” write glowingly about our many shared intellectual interests, especially the law. In my account, Ruth is on the Supreme Court while I am a judge on a Federal Appeals Court in New York. One of our greatest pleasures is discussing cases that have come before our respective courts. But the dream account makes a great point of saying how these discussions were always postponed until after the cases were decided in order to preserve confidentiality. Once the cases are decided, however, we dissect and discuss them at great length, an exercise we both find especially rewarding because we share the same legal philosophy.

In the unfolding dream, I, Martin, repeatedly admire the quality of my writing, how easily it flows, and how few changes I have to make in the words. Incidentally, the few changes I do make are “seen” as actual deletions or substitutions in the dream text.

--Jim, Age 78, Washington, D.C., USA

Hi Jim -

(Or should I say Mr. Ginsburg?)

At first glance your dream appears to be a longing for intellectual courtship. You have an idyllic relationship with your wife - almost perfect - and the greatest pleasures you share together - at least in your dream - are intellectual. I agree with you wholeheartedly that the mind is the sexiest part of the human body. And certainly, in Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you have found a companion whose expertise and accomplishment in the field of your life-long chosen work - the interpretation of law - equals and compliments your own.

I am curious, however, if your dream does not also reflect a simpler celebration of intellect. The dream is epiphanic in nature - one euphoric crescendo follows another - yet the theme throughout is the joy of the mind. First you devour the twists and turns of various law cases like a hungry man eating a steak. Next you repeatedly admire the flow of your writing - you are delighted at how little editing needs to be done. Honor, also, is an essential component of your relationship with Mrs. Ginsburg: you both utterly respect your court’s confidentiality. In this context, perhaps Mrs. Ginsburg functions as a bit of a muse in your dream. She is an apt symbol of the epitome of feminine intellect and honor (Your Honor) - for a man of your profession. I would venture that your love and respect for the field of law runs very deep.

You were sighted until your early twenties - and inform us that occasionally you dream with visual images - but that you often - most of the time, I presume - dream without visual accompaniment. To the best of my knowledge, your experience - as you suggest - is like that of most people who have lost their sight. Their dreams reflect their current experience, though visual memories occasionally appear. Very few people are actually born blind, and their dreams, again, to the best of my knowledge - do not contain these visual memories.

Thank you very much for sharing your dream, and may your love of the human intellect continue to flourish.