TGBC is a book club. Each month the club sets a challenge. Beyond reading, the benefits of being part of this book club are legion; a sense of belonging, the friendships, interaction both with those of like mind and those who aren't.
Another benefit is the product of a club-wide mindset to try to be better people. Health check ups, commitments to community and social interaction are good for the individual and others and are the outcomes of the sort of challenges the club sets each month.
September 2021 the challenge is #showussomething. Everyone thought 2020’s #showussomething challenge while living in lockdown would be the challenge needing some clever thinking - showing off something while stuck at home for weeks or months on end. But 2021 came round and for many, lockdown living hadn’t gone away.
So, what to show for #showussomething in 2021? I’d already built my street library in 2020. You’d already showed us your bread baking set up, your guitar collection, your garden bed.
TGBC is full of interesting blokes, so what else ya got?
As might have been expected, the amazing people that make up TGBC had not been idle. Skills had developed. Goals had been reached and then reset at even higher levels. Gardens had been curated, physiques molded through exercise, cooking efforts had moved from the purely functional to the ornamental.
The finer points on kitchen knife maintenance went from basic sharpening tips to the finer details of the difference between honing a blade and sharpening one. The heat was turned up on meat cooking and tips were shared on ensuring best seasoning results on cast iron pans.
Inevitably, some hobbies had their way and became major projects. We saw photos of new bathrooms and the beginnings of a cottage industry in backyard furniture making. We saw updates on car restorations, engine rebuilds, stereo speaker refurbs and garden sheds.
But it’s not just about becoming an aficionado. Sometimes it’s the more mundane know-how that might have always eluded us. One guy learnt and shared that he could now ride a bike. Another can now fix a bathroom tap. For others, it might be a simple act or habit that demonstrates the many building blocks of a community. A bloke showed us how he (and his neighbours) use spray paint to highlight the bad potholes on the road into their town. Imagine how much better partners / fathers, neighbours or housemates all these guys will be.
To be clear; it’s not just about showing off a skill gained through lockdown. Sharing something of yourself with the rest of TGBC also means being proud of the things that are special to you. A piece of family history or a prized possession that might be a tiny bit out of the ordinary. To wit: one of the guys from Tassie talked about and showed us a mace he uses to workout with.
Yeah. A mace.
So what else ya got to show us?
