Chuck’s Place: To Be Special And Not Be Special

The power of the dual mind is unlimited…
-Artwork © 2026 Jan Ketchel

I once had a professor hand me back a paper and say, “Yeah, you can write, but don’t get a fat head.” He was a weathered Irish alcoholic, a seasoned veteran of many a late night lecture at the pub.

He would write two sentences on the board from the current New York Times, then spend the entire class breaking it down, demonstrating countless violations in grammar, printed in this ‘revered’ newspaper.

He taught me to stay humble and play by the rules. I’ve never written anything since where I haven’t had his critical eye challenging my every word.

Christianity holds humility as a foundational virtue. “Pride goeth before the fall,” counsels King Solomon in Proverbs.

Certainly, the guidance to avoid ego inflation is central to psychological health. Its danger, in Narcissistic Personality Disorder, couldn’t be more evident than on today’s world stage.

Its prominence in Schizophrenia is also evident, where ego is often swallowed by the grander personality of a Napoleon or a Joan of Arc.

The struggle in Bipolar Disorder is often to take the elixir that renders one to the ordinariness of everyday life, surrendering a dip into the mania of infinite possibility, or a retreat into the utter inertia of depression.

This well-armed war on specialness requires us to knock on wood, to not tempt fate after making a boast. So great is the penalty for assuming even a hint of divine identification.

In fact, this overarching law to refuse all specialness has insisted that humankind disown and project any hint of supernatural power onto an outside entity, be it God, Goddess, or the Universe, as it fully embraces its unworthiness.

As they pray at the Catholic Mass, just prior to receiving Holy Communion, with its human ingestion of the Divine: “Lord I am not worthy, speak but the word and my soul will be healed.”

This preponderance of caution around assuming human specialness is not simply a conspiratorial effort to control the masses and create dependency upon manipulative prophets. To enter into one’s true specialness one must first defeat any attachment to self-importance.

Ego must be honed to handle the enormity of self found in the breadth of the subconscious mind. For much of life ego enjoys the falsehood of its self-importance. Its true task is to grow up and assume responsibility for directing its own inner divinity, the subconscious mind, to exercise its power for the greater good.

Rationality, the greatest achievement of the conscious mind, must be freed from its know-it-all fixation of ego certitude, to its necessary role of producing appropriate suggestions for the subconscious mind’s creation.

In this role, ego surrenders its self-importance to authentically serve the greater Truth. The truth is that we are beings with a dual mind. The conscious mind is assigned the role of leadership; the subconscious mind is the creator.

The subconscious mind can “heal your body and mind of all disease,” states Joseph Murphy in his epic, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. However, to tap into such power the ego must lose its obsession with its own specialness and fully embrace its actual superpower of suggestion, responsibly.

The ego must also exercise its powers of reflection to arrive at truth, then deliver its suggestions faithfully to the subconscious mind.

To believe in the power of the subconscious mind is to know its power through direct experience. The road to that knowing requires ego’s dedication to exercising this power of intent, without attachment to the outcome.

The power of the subconscious mind can be used for healing, manifesting, change, creativity, inspiration, intuition, telepathic communication, a whole host of positive intentions.

Simply, or not so simply, closing the door to distraction, and incessantly repeating one’s intent through suggestion, initiates the journey of cooperative wholeness between the dual mind in the service of the greater good. A more special relationship there could not be.

Continue to be well,
Chuck

Soulbyte for Tuesday June 23, 2026

-Artwork © 2026 Jan Ketchel

Keep alert but don’t panic. Keep on top of things but don’t overdo. Give your energy where is most needed but also protect it for what’s needed most. Let the outside world find its equilibrium without you, if that is the best thing for you to do. Or engage the world in whatever way feels right for you to do. But also track your energy throughout the day and make good decisions to protect yourself, and your energy, when it’s right to do so. For you can often get so caught up in something that you lose track of yourself, and before you know it you are depleted and exhausted. Temper yourself. Ground yourself.

All our love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Monday June 22, 2026

-Artwork © 2026 Jan Ketchel

Accept that things are in changing mode, that life is suddenly spinning off in so many directions that it’s hard to keep up. Slow down on the inside so that you are not swept off your feet by what you perceive as chaotic and untenable. When you see things happening in the world outside of you that could sweep you off your feet, simply by their intensity and absurdity, get grounded inside yourself, in your intelligence that reminds you that it’s just another day and it will end, and that things are in such flux that this time too shall pass. Remind yourself that you are your own anchor and that you don’t need an anchor in the world, you only need an anchor within that will keep you fully present and protected, no matter what transpires around you, because you are a stable and knowing being with the wherewithal to stand firm in loving kindness and compassion, for self and others, in all times of change. You’ve done it before and you can do it again. Keep that in mind.

All our love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Sunday June 21, 2026

-Artwork © 2026 Jan Ketchel

Begin the day with a little prayer for beauty and love to come through you today, for your radiant self to shine no matter what situations arise. Say a little prayer for your true self to greet the day with an open heart and to stay fully present as you navigate life on its daily terms. It’s not that often that the true self gets to be so fully present. Often, it’s a concerted effort to keep that self on the outside, for that self is most comfortable on the inside. But give it a try and see what happens. You might find that your true self is much more easily accepted and has a much better time than you might expect. That true self might just be letting you know that it’s really okay to let it out into life a little more often. You might find that others react to you more positively too, and that your whole day goes swimmingly.

All our love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Soulbyte for Saturday June 20, 2026

-Artwork © 2026 Jan Ketchel

In contrast to how loving you can teach yourself to be toward yourself, it can be much harder to feel love for someone else who irks you or does not hold you in high regard, no matter how you try to please them. Sometimes a relationship is over, and facing that truth can be one of the biggest challenges in a lifetime, for when a relationship is over, what comes next? The future can look empty and bleak when viewed from a place of lack. But when viewed from a place of opportunity and luck, the sky’s the limit. Is it time to look at your situation from a new perspective? Where lies the luck? Where lies the opportunity? Where lies the next big adventure? Where lies the bright future? It’s all in the next positive step, the next right choice, the next self-affirming decision you make.

All our love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR