I was born in 1987 and grew up in the state of New Jersey, USA. I have a bachelor's degree in music composition. I've worked as an actuarial analyst, math teacher, and other jobs. Currently, I'm trying to become an apprentice electrician! I've been living in the state of Colorado for maybe 8 years, and now reside in the Denver area with my partner, our cat, and our snake. I used to be a semi-professional poker player, and once upon a time was a competitive Magic: the Gathering player. As my username may suggest, I don't identify as male or female (I am nonbinary). My pronouns are they/them/theirs.
I was raised in the Methodist church (protestant Christianity) and openly rejected the church when I was 12 or so. Around the same time I was going through some medical procedures that left me permanently disabled (too long a story to put here) and in a lot of pain. Having seen some sneak-peeks of the fallout from the coming opioid epidemic, I wanted to deal with my pain without opiates, and at the same time had been searching for a spirituality that fit for me. Around 14 I started meditating and around 16 I came out to myself as a Buddhist, having read a bit in some books, Buddhanet, and AccessToInsight. Experimenting with different meditation techniques, my ability to deal with pain grew to an extremely helpful level. In my teens (and still!) I was very aware of my preference for fundamental Theravada.
Most of my practice and development was solo. In college (in Pittsburgh) I had a Dhamma friend who introduced me to a Zendo and a Theravada monastery, but I didn't visit either very much. The Zendo was especially difficult as the teacher would frequently correct my posture, which was very difficult to maintain due to my disability.
My practice has always been important to me, but has ebbed and flowed over the years. A couple years ago I became interested in some of the modern USA Vipassana movement, read and listened a lot, and eventually joined a mindfulness teacher program. I grew distasteful of the program for a number of reasons, most importantly being my belief that the Dhamma should not be sold. My financial situation changed drastically for the worse (Covid-19) and I left the program, as it's administrators reminded me that I still owe them the full amount for a course I had not yet begun.
I'm at this forum because I want to learn and make more friends in the Dhamma. Greetings!
welcome to Buddhism. 
