Hello,
My name is Tom. I live in East Tennessee in the US.
I have been meditating for a while. I attended a weekend Zen retreat back in the 90's -- don't remember the exact year now, but it was when I was meditating regularly (weekly) with the local sangha that sponsored the retreat. I struggled to maintain a daily practice back then, but missed many days.
Since then, my practice has been off and on, more off than on, although I did have a couple of years in the last fifteen where I meditated every day, typically for 30 minutes or less each day. I've been working on another daily streak since April 7, 2017, again 30 minutes or less each day. Since I retired at the end of April, 2017, I have a lot more free time to devote to practice.
This past December (2018), my appetite for sitting suddenly increased and I'm up to around 1.5 to 2 hours each day at this point. I think the increase in appetite may have been due to a combination of some painful personal conflict with family members coupled with running across some testimonial information about the benefits of awakening for understanding oneself and being able to navigate relationships more skillfully. Whatever it was, my motivation has been strong ever since.
The guidance I'm currently using is the book The Mind Illuminated, by Culadasa. I've also benefited from some of his youtube videos. In the system described in that book, I judge myself to be on stage 4, which just means I've almost got where I can keep my attention on the breath for the whole session with minimal distractions.
I'm grateful to be able to be part of this sangha. Thank you for allowing me to join. I hope to learn lots from you all and to contribute as I'm able.
May all of us and everyone else be healthy, happy, and content.
Tom
PS: JVD, just wanted to say that I relate to what you wrote. My parents were Southern Baptist missionaries in Indonesia. It made for an interesting cultural experience growing up, but their religious beliefs ultimately didn't work for me. I'm your age, too.