March brought one of the favourite monthly challenges, #otherhobby, and it’s been damn good seeing what Goons get up to when they’re not reading.

We’re a book club for men, so it’s pretty obvious we all like sitting down with a book now and then. But we all know people are into more than one thing. TGBC has a diverse range of guys with different ages, backgrounds, and of course interests. And that’s what #otherhobby is all about: showing those interests to fellow goons; connecting with guys with similar interests; and if you’re lucky, maybe learning or teaching a thing or two.

The challenge with the other hobby challenge is not getting carried away with wanting to take up a bunch of activities after seeing others do their thing. Goons have shared everything from woodworking, weight lifting, motor bikes, plenty of collecting of various things and something called “herping” which, according to the poster, is searching for amphibians and reptiles.

As men, however, it’s easy to forget yourself and feel you don’t have a hobby. We want to devote our free time to our family and partners, to making sure we’re pitching in enough around the house, to being involved where we can. This challenge makes us realise how many hobbies we actually have. A lot of guys do their household gardening and take pride and enjoyment in this activity; that’s a hobby. Some goons coach their kids’ sports games. Sport is a hobby.

TGBC has a strict rule that we don’t talk about work. This is because too often men introduce themselves by talking about what they do for a living. The ‘no work policy’ is to show that we’re more than being defined by this one thing, and #otherhobby pushes that further. Even if your other hobby is “just” cooking for your family every day, if it’s something you enjoy and do regularly, it’s a hobby.

So the last part of why this is a good challenge. It reminds us to make time to do the things we like doing.