160. One Hundred Things to do Today Instead of the Inauguration

Looking for healthy alternatives to going down the inauguration rabbit hole today? You’re not alone! Tune in to hear some practical self-care strategies to help you navigate today. We’ll explore practical techniques for managing stress, setting boundaries, and finding moments of peace. Whether you’re an activist, a concerned citizen, or just looking for ways to recharge, you’ll likely walk away with at least a few ideas that you can take action on today.

Links from today’s episode:

100 Things to Do Instead of the Inauguration PDF to Share with Friends

http://bit.ly/4fZdvKk

ICYMI another episode you might enjoy:

Episode#122 How I switched to a socially responsible index fund

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Website https://www.progressivepockets.com

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Transcript

Welcome to Progressive Pockets! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja. This is a show about taking back some of our power. We talk about money on this show, “we” is you and I, this is a conversation. Please keep your emails coming to progressive pockets at gmail dot com.

Today is MLK Day, and the third time that an inauguration has coincided with MLK Day. The first time was the inauguration of former President Bill Clinton in 1997. Then it happened again for former President Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. And it has happened again today. Incidentally, the next time that MLK Day and Inauguration Day will be on the same day is in 2037. That’s only 12 years away from today. Isn’t that wild? 2037 feels so far away. Honestly I don’t know if I ever got over the change from the 1900s to the 2000s. Anything 2000s sounds so futuristic to me. Is that just me?

So today is Inauguration Day 2025! And you might have some feelings about that, I know I do! So I started thinking about healthy, life affirming things that I could do today rather than to go down the rabbit hole.

Today’s discussion is about things you can do today instead of the inauguration. 100 things to be specific. Thank you to all who contributed healthy, fun, positive, restful, self caring, self preserving, did I already say positive….things that you can do today. In no particular order.

1. Stick with whatever healthy routines you already have. If you usually get up and workout, go get up and workout. If you usually take your vitamins, today is the day my friend. You could decide to live really clean today.
2. Have a no media day. No news podcast, no TV news, no newspaper, no social media.
3. Go outside get into some nature.
4. Make something really delicious to eat, something you wouldn’t normally take the time to prepare on a Monday.
5. Have an impromptu party, call up your friends and invite them over for this evening. Guess what you’ll be focusing on today instead of the inauguration? Cleaning your house and throwing together some good refreshments for your friends.
6. Tip someone a crazy amount today. First make sure they actually get the tips, this is a question I’ve started asking before I tip these days. If its an establishment where the owner actually gives the staff their tips, go crazy today.
7. Go buy a bunch of gift cards and then hand them out.
8. Treat yourself to a home spa day.
9. Go out to a professional spa.
10. Watch a nature documentary
11. Get tea with a friend
12. See a movie in an actual theater
13. Go to a museum
14. Call someone you haven’t talked to in a long time
15. Do a hobby you would otherwise never do
16. Make some art
17. Organize the worst drawer in your kitchen.
18. Donate some money to a women's health clinic.
19. Donate some money to a food pantry.
20. Donate some money to a refugee resettlement nonprofit in your town.
21. Go to an MLK celebration in your town today. I know the NAACP is doing an MLK parade in Greensboro North Carolina and there’s also a big parade in Las Vegas where thousands of people are expected to attend.
22. Get really dressed up and go out for afternoon coffee at the fanciest hotel in your town.
23. Go to bed early, like Michelle Obama early. Does she go to bed early, I’m not really sure, but I will never forget that she said she turned off the news and went to bed the night of the 2016 election. So go to bed really early tonight.
24. Wash your car, if you have one. Inside and out. Do it yourself if you haven’t in a long time. It is so relaxing, I promise.
25. Make a vision board for your self care goals this year. Use canva or something similar to create it digitally if you don’t have any magazines.
26. Do a polar plunge.
27. Go where your community is. If you are black, go to where the black people are. If you are queer, find your community. If you are an immigrant, find where the other immigrants are today and immerse yourself in your community.
28. Have a daytime dance party, be in your body
29. Deep clean all of your hardware, your laptops your tablets your phones your headphones your VR headset. Get dust cloths and qtips and old toothbrushes and really clean them.
30. Visit your community garden and see what you can do to get it ready for growing season in a couple of months.
31. Volunteer at a soup kitchen today
32. Go out for a really nice meal. Go for lunch and save a few bucks rather than going for dinner.
33. Go to the independent bookstore in your town and talk to the booksellers about what you should read next
34. Give yourself a massage.
35. Take a train ride and if you don’t get motion sickness, look out the windows and enjoy how beautiful this country is
36. Sort through all your mail.
37. Go somewhere to play with animals
38. Do the research today to figure out where you want to volunteer this year in your community.
39. Clean the garage
40. Clean a closet
41. Clean the fridge
42. Take a workshop or class to learn something new, if it’s too late to find one in person, find one online
43. Pick a theme for the day and challenge yourself to do everything within that theme. Your theme could be a country, you could wear the colors of their flag, eat their food, listen to their music, learn some phrases in one of their languages.
44. Challenge yourself to read an entire book today. Pick something that will hold you. Could be something trashy or thrilling.
45. Go through all of your meds in your first aid kit and make sure they’re not too expired.
46. Make a 2025 resolution bingo card. If you haven’t seen these you can google it, it’s a social media trend that looks like a fun twist on new year’s resolutions.
47. Plan a future vacation. Pick the activities you’ll do and where you’ll stay and start creating your itinerary.
48. Write letters to your friends and relatives. Get out the good stationary. Or make some.
49. Bake some cookies and then divvy them up and walk around to your neighbors and hand them out.
50. Have a film festival at home. You can pick an actor and only watch movies that feature that actor, or pick a city and only watch movies filmed in that city. Or if there’s a series you like, watch them all.
51. Shred all that paper you’ve been meaning to get to.
52.  See if you can finish an entire puzzle today from beginning to end
53.  Hang up those decor items that you’ve been procrastinating on.
54. Do some deep spring cleaning. I’m talking baseboards, get the Mr Clean eraser and hit those smudges on your walls. Dust your light fixtures. Take out all the recycling and donations. Clean your trash can.
55. Make that website you’ve been thinking about.
56. Do 3 things you’ve been procrastinating and then reward yourself with some treats.
57. Find 10 things in your home that you can sell or donate
58. Go on a photo walk around your city or neighborhood.
59. Talk to strangers today. As you go out and about, make it a point to talk to at least one stranger today. Beyond the pleasantries, beyond the weather. And really listen.
60. Go on a food tour of your neighborhood. Grab an appetizer and one restaurant, entree at another one and then dessert at a final spot.
61. Rearrange all your furniture even if you’re convinced everything is already in the perfect spot. Just try it for today and see how it feels.
62. Visit a local plant nursery and go wild.
63. Go to home depot, rent a carpet cleaner and shampoo all your rugs
64. Act like a tourist in your own town. Go do that cheesy touristy thing that somehow you’ve never actually done before. 
65. Host a virtual hangout with your friends.
66. Organize your digital photos.
67. Go on a virtual tour of a historical sight
68. Challenge yourself to write an entire short story today from beginning to end. Share it with friends if that’s your style.
69. Grab some flowers from Trader Joes and then try to arrange them like a professional florist.
70. Get into some yoga or stretching today.
71. Get on youtube and try some origami tutorials.
72. Declutter your closet, put the donations in your car and bonus points if you actually go and drop them off today too.
73. Create a care package for someone you know who could use it. A friend who is under the weather, a college student in your life, someone who just moved away from home.
74. Compile all the documents you’ll need to do your taxes this year.
75. Clean up your email inboxes, see if you can get your unread number to 0.
76. Uninstall the apps you’re not using on your phone.
77. Organize your computer files. There are probably files you can throw out. You might benefit from a better naming system for your files.
78. Wash your windows. Inside and out.
79. Create new backgrounds for your computer and phone and tablet, whatever digital devices you have. You could make a collage on canva or draw something or just find something cool online. Some art that you admire.
80. Rearrange all the art you have in your home. Knicknacks, hanging pieces.
81. Bundle up and then throw open all the windows and doors to air out your entire home.
82. Do some gratitude journaling
83. See how many naps you can take today. Get up and do something active in between, get some fresh air, and then see if you can take another nap.
84. See if there’s a fitness class you can go out and take today.
85. See if you can invent a game.
86. See if your town has any events or concerts today. I know there’s a gospel brunch in DC for example.
87. See if your house of worship has any services today.
88. Go roller skating.
89. Do an elaborate hair style you don’t usually have time for.
90. Make a time capsule to open up in 5 years
91. Make a jar with slips of paper to open up when you need a pick me up. The slips of paper could have inspiring quotes or scriptures if you’re religious or jokes, horoscopes, whatever. You can make one for a friend too.
92. Use today to strategize how you want to show up politically or for your community in the future.
93. Chase down your 401Ks from jobs you had in the past.
94. Try on all your clothes and put together 5 new combinations for new outfits.
95. Organize all those pesky cords and wires in your home.
96. Write out all the birthday cards for all of your friends and family this year. Address and stamp the envelopes and have them ready to mail throughout the rest of this year.
97. Discard all of the expired foods from your pantry.
98. Reach out to your friends and schedule your friend dates for the next month.
99. Apply for the fellowship you’ve been thinking about.
100. Challenge a friend to see who can get more steps today. And make sure there’s a prize for the winner.
101. Take a long bath

Whew! That was a hundred things to do today instead of the inauguration. Thanks again for everyone who sent in their ideas to contribute to this list. Please share this episode with anyone you know, your sister, your cousin, your work friend that you can be honest with about your beliefs, your neighbor, your friend, your partner. Let’s all do some things today that nurture us and fill us up. There are so many things we can do to improve the world around us but for today, let’s rest and recharge.

I’d love to know what you ended up doing today, send me an email any time at progressive pockets at gmail dot com.

Coming up I have a book review from a really good book I’m just finishing up. I also have some suggestions on how to be more generous this year. Lots of good stuff.

If you have a few more minutes today, here’s a bonus item, #101 on things you can do today instead of the inauguration. Start from episode 1 of this show and see how many episodes you can get through in one day lol

I’m joking about that but the funny thing is, that kind of happens regularly. I’ll notice that someone will have discovered the show because they will go through and listen to, I’m not kidding, like 20 episodes or more in a day. There are over a hundred and fifty episodes to choose from and if you look on Spotify there is a playlist of the most popular episodes from 2024 if you are interested in starting there. Just search for Progressive Pockets and then click on the Playlists section of the results.

Let’s end with a quote as we usually do. This one comes from Anne Lamott.

"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you."

Ooh I wish I had a witness in here today. I hope you unplug today and recharge, relax, relate, whatever it is you need. Take care.

Let’s talk again soon!