One-eyedJoe,
You say: “there's really not anything all that special about consciousness” which is the source of all intuition which precedes many of even scientific inventions!
You are free to feel the way you do—that’s your choice. However time is infinite, your inner self is infinite. You have more than enough time to feel differently—no need of hurry!
However, this is the doctrine (man is no different from animal, having no immortality of soul ....) that I first doubted as a JW. Later I myself experienced first-hand proof for the existence of such a thing, and the possibility of communication even with souls after their physical death. One can empty all his mundage, wasteful thoughts, become pure (with a clear mind and clean heart), go into his ORIGINAL NATURE of SILENCE and come in the same wave-length as other souls—including the Supreme Soul, God Himself.
“Learn to be SILENT. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb.” (Pythagorus, also compare Psalm 46:10) If God or any other soul is the target, and thoughts the arrows of concentration, connection is achieved by focusing our thoughts on the target. Where our thoughts go, so too our energy and attention! The target soul too draws us near. Just as when the eyes of two friends meet, and there is a discernible exchange, similarly when we connect to God or any other souls, there is automatic transmission of energy. [People, out of frustration, may reject terming consciousness as energy, or term such treatise on consciousness as pseudo-science. Such claims appear because of their closed mind-set]. However, mind is like a parachute, it works BEST when open. If you want your mind to work FOR you (rather than AGAINST you), be loving to yourself freeing yourself from the self-imprisonment. Then you will realize that Soul is intelligent energy. This energy appears to function as vibrational waves (similar to electromagnetic force) but without the limitations of charged particles of matter. Soul energy does not appear to be uniform. Like a finger-print, each soul has a unique identity in its formation, composition and vibrational distribution.
Very few people make the effort, and benefit themselves. One among them is the German Mystic Meister Eckhart who declared:
“The very best and utmost of attainment in this life is to remain STILL and let God act and speak through you.”