Mother's Day, like most present-day holidays, has its roots from religion. The tradition began as Mothering Sunday, which is still celebrated in many parts of the world. This day, the fourth Sunday of Lent, is also known as Laetare Sunday to Catholics. Laetare Sunday is the celebration of mother of Jesus's birth.

Even though Mothering Sunday is used as a day to celebrate mothers, historically the day was seen as strictly a religious holiday.

This is why Julia Ward Howe started the call for a Mother's Day in the United States. In 1870, she wrote the "Mother's Day Proclamation" in hopes to begin the celebration. And over the next few decades, it did. But only on the local level.

Nonetheless, the celebration of Mother's Day still wasn't wide spread in the early 1900s. Anna Jarvis set out to change that.^1,2 She dreamed of making it a national holiday. However, her success didn't begin until the Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker stepped in to help.

At this point, Jarvis began trademarking phrases such as "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day" in the United States to help spark interest. She also created the Mother's Day International Association in hopes of finding support for her cause.

In 1914, Woodrow Wilson granted Jarvis's wish and made Mother's Day an official holiday. On May 9, 1914, President Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day.

Several years after the days official creation, the holiday became so commercialized that even its creator considered it a "Hallmark Holiday". She spent all of her inheritance fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration.

Jarvis later said she wishes she never started the holiday since it became so out of control. Maybe she is right.

Today, Mother's Day is the most popular day of the year to dine in a restaurant. In total, Americans spend about $2.8 billion Mother's Day and accounts for 7.8% of the total jewelry industry's revenue.

1. In 1868 Anna's mother, Ann, created a committee to establish "Mother's Friendship Day" which was meant to reunite families after the Civil War. She died in 1905. This led to Anna's efforts to establish a Mother's Day to celebrate mothers.
2. Jarvis wasn't the first to publically call for a national Mother's Day holiday. That honor goes to Frank E. Hering in 1904. All previous calls for the holiday were for other purposes, not to celebrate mothers specifically.

If you speak Spanish or, at the very least, understand a few words read on to check out these poemas de amor (love poems in Spanish) for a great inspiring and passionate read.

And guys, women love romantic languages and poems. Recite one of these to your girlfriend/wife/lover and you'll get some bonus points.

• Afectos varios de su corazón, fluctuando en las ondas de los cabellos de Lisi by Francisco de Quevedo - "Various affections of your heart".
• Discurso de Eva by Carilda Oliver Labra - "Speech by Eva"
• Los Amorosos by Jaime Sabines - "The Loving"
• Mi Amor Descubre Objetos by Isabel Fraire - "See My Love Objects"
• Oda al Amor by Pablo Neruda - "Ode to Love"
• Palpar by Octavio Paz - "Touch"
• Romance De La Luna, Luna by Federico Garcia Lorca - "Romance of the Moon, Moon"

I hope you enjoy these poemas españoles!

Many famous people have been known to write love letters. Many of the letters have been kept for memory purposes or historical reference. Whatever the reason, we are glad they have been documented and open to the public. It not only makes for great citing, but also for a great read.

Famous Love Letters

Abigail Adams - A very beautiful letter written to her husband, John Adams.
Ludwig Beethoven - Yes, Beethoven had his own little "angel" of his own. This is an amazing love letter written by one of the greatest musicians of all-time.
Winston Churchill - Yes, even Churchill tried his hand in romantic writing. Of course, this one was written to his darling Clemmie in 1935.
Zelda Sayre to F. Scott Fitzgerald - Perhaps her writing is just as great as Fitzgerald's (at least in this instance).
Mark Twain - One of the most prolific American writers used his pen to get his ladies. This is a short but quite romantic work. Whatever woman received this was quite lucky and surely happy.
Napoleon (1795) - Even famous generals wrote letters. Women are wonderful creatures, they could even make Napoleon's heart melt.
Napoleon (1797) - Another fantastic writing by the great leader of France.
Van Gogh - A great artist of all types. Of course, he was a bit weird. This was written to his brother about his cousin. Yikes! Although, it was much more common during that period.
Voltaire - A great thinker thought his way to writing this amazing letter to his own love.

These are just some of the few great love letters written throughout history. Even today, men and women are writing them, except instead of on pen and paper they are happening in emails, Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere. People haven't changed as much as you'd think. We simply have different means of going about it.

Running out of ideas to write is the worst nightmare for writers. Nonetheless, there's always something to write about. The problem is you must know how to go about getting to this stage in order to take advantage of it.

First, you should accept that having writer's block or lack of ideas is your fault. Like recovering from an addiction, the first step to recovery is acceptance that you have a problem. And lack of ideas is an addiction. It's an addiction as you wrongly accept that you are powerless to the feeling. But you aren't. You can overcome it.

Second, believe that your work can change the lives of others; however, you must first write to be able to do it. Writing is powerful. It can inspire us to do things we would never do by ourselves. Your work can do this. Believe it.

Third, make the decision to turn your writing over to your own knowledge and past. You are the author, and you must use your first-hand experiences. As authors, we should always write about what we know. And if we don't know it, we should research.

Fourth, make a list of what you are doing and your surroundings whenever you start feeling lost for words. Is there music? Is it a crowded place? Is a specific person around? Something could be giving you negative feedback or be getting part of your attention. You need to search and eliminate it.

Fifth, admit to someone about the nature of your problem. Be honest and talk about your lack of ideas and other shortcomings within your writings. This person can be a friend, spouse, or even a fellow writer. Whoever you choose, it doesn't necessarily matter. The process of recovery during this step is through acknowledging your problems aloud to someone who will listen.

Sixth, be willing to let go of the causes you found in step four. This can be tough, but it is also a must in order to become a better writer overall.

Seventh, accept that recovery is not a quick process and you will need to put in hard work. You need to be mentally ready. This includes following all the steps from one to six and readying yourselves for what's to come next.

Eighth, join a writers group. If you don't have one within your city, look for a community online which talks about writing and not necessarily showing your work. Being able to simply talk about writing, problems during the process, and helping others can give you ideas for your own writing.

Ninth, make amends with your past writing and accept that not all writing is meant to be perfect. You are always learning new things, and learning how to become a better writer is one of them. You should always be able to pick three works you wrote five years ago and find at least two of them in need of great changes and hold many flaws.

Tenth, always try to have maintenance on your writing, ideas, and your surroundings. Take control and don't let it control you.

Eleventh, understand that there is a purpose for everything, even if you don't see it. The world works off of energy and whether or not you are the negative or positive effect is up to you. You must work to be the positive and work towards the purpose. By this, you must know what type of writer you are. Do you work best in non-fiction? Fiction? First-person? Short stories? Essays? What about your writer's voice?

Twelfth, follow these rules at all times. This is the hardest step for many writers, especially when first starting the program.

Going through this twelve step program is a lot of work, and can take some time getting use to. However, step twelve is a great place to be.

Nonetheless, this doesn't mean you are always motivated. If you are reading this, you probably need a bit of motivation yourself.

To help you out, I've selected 20 great images which will help you create a beautiful poem.

1. This beautiful woman is great inspiration for men of all ages and some women too.

   

2. Here are some beautiful mountains from a distance with people standing within the landscape. Great for nature writings or other inspiration.

   

3. Old metal objects is the name of this photo. Out on the sea.

   

4. 
   If you love animals like me, you'll surely be able to take a few words from this photograph.
5. 
   Humor is sometimes the best medicine, even for writing.
6. 
   This image is for all the dog lovers out there.
7. 
   This dandelion still has its fluff. A wonder of nature and a horror of the lawn.
8. 
   This photo can hold different meanings to different people. One might see a picture of industrialization and economic power. Another might see a photograph of pollution filling the air and destroying our environment. Whatever you see, I hope it helps you write your next poem.
9. 
   Sometimes insects are the most prettiest creatures we see in any given day. This little guy might be that insect.
10. 
    Here's another gorgeous young female to entice the eyes and the hand for writing.
11. 
    Beautiful apple flowers blooming. A wonderful sight to see.
12. 
    This is a photograph of a former slave. It was taken during the 1860s.
13. 
    The sunrise is said to be one of the world's greatest wonders. This one sits above the Black Sea.
14. 
    This marvelous little guy packs a nasty punch. The hornet sting is more powerful than your typical wasp.
15. 
    This is simply a stunning image of old shoes, definitely worthy of making this list.
16. 
    This old bottle probably went through a long and rough life, but is still around to tell us a story through our work.
17. 
    A trapdoor spider made a wonderful view for us to web our ideas into.
18. 
    The sea is one of my favorite places to go for peaceful thoughts.
19. 
    This is a stunning image of deliciousness to help get our mouth hungry for words and our hand ready to pick them.
20. 
    A fire burning to light our eyes for late night poetry writing.

All images are in the Public Domain, so feel free to use them, edit them, and whatever else to create your wonderful work of literature.

This poem is a one stanza work with six lines. It consists of the rhyme scheme a-b-b-a-c-c. The first five lines consist of ten syllables and the sixth line contains thirteen. The lines consist of no meter pattern like many of Donne's other poetry. He often changes feet depending on his purpose to expose his audience to another set of emotions. For example, "dum-dum" is calming, yet "BA-BA" is exciting.

(I do accept criticism. If any of this scansion this is incorrect, feel free to notify me.)

The poem begins, "Out of a fired ship, which, by no way / But drowning, could be rescued from the flame," This sets the scene and tone for the rest of the writing. It gives the reader a sense of hopelessness and sadness. A ship is on fire and there's no way out. You can only escape the drowning by burning to death.

"Some men leaped forth, and ever as they came / Near the foe's ships, did by their shot decay;" speaks of men leaping off the boat, hoping to get to the enemies ship to be saved. However, they weren't able to make it as they were shot--most likely from fire arrows.

The final lines, "So all were lost, which in the ship were found, / They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drowned." describes what was left. All the men perished. Those who were in the ship died from drowning and those who fled the burning ship had burned. Very ironic, yet also metaphorical.

I take this poem to mean life ends in peculiar ways and that when our time has come there's no way to escape it. Life may end quickly, yet it can also end in an agonizing fashion. No matter which, we can't escape the path of life.

I'm of the belief that films which don't age are some of the best films. When you watch Jaws (a fantastic film, by the way) one of the obvious things you notice is how dated the graphics are. Hell, even if you watch movies from the early 00s, you'll find some which are dated. They simply don't hold up with the test of time. Even non-graphics heavy films can be dated: see Scary Movie and Date Movie.

Horrors often look dated through new blood technology, new societal thrills (some things just aren't as scary today as they were 30 years ago), and of course, they often have horrible scripts or bad acting to begin with. Exceptions generally include Hitchcock films.

Comedies generally become dated because they reference current events when the film occurred, the situational comedy which involves social norms at the time aren't so normal anymore, and of course, like horrors the script generally isn't that well to begin with and comedic acting hardly ever works out. Exceptions include Some Like It Hot and Grounghog Day.

Dramas are a whole other beast. It generally depends on what the drama is about. If it about a historical event, it depends on how deep the film goes and what new evidence has come up. Of course, then the script is at fault if something goes wrong or doesn't sit right with those of us who enjoy historical dramas. You have love stories which have problems with social values changing, and you have action packed films with changing graphics as well as values. Exceptions include Schindler's List and Pulp Fiction.

Of course, some quality films are dated. As I mentioned earlier, Jaws is a prime example of this. However, when talking about the best, and I mean purely the top 10 movies of all-time, a film should hold through the test of time, have a quality script, and excellent acting. Frankly, not many films can do this. Actually, not even many films throughout cinema history have accomplished two of those three.

Alright, you are probably wondering what the "movie of the century" is.

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life has stood through the test of time, has an excellent script, and quality acting.

Yes, it's technically a Christmas movie and a great one at that, but there is much more to the film than simply being a holiday flick.

It's a Wonderful Life is Timeless

Much of the film revolves around issues and circumstances which are still true today. Even George Bailey's job as a lender is definitely true today. The town's people's issues? True today. The war? True today. People wondering about the "what ifs" in life? Everyone can relate to that.

Everyone can also relate to the family issues. They relate to the romance.

The graphics are basically non-existent (except when they show the sky, but that's not much of an issue). So there's really nothing to be out-dated in that sense.

Of course, the timelessness of the film may very well be helped by the fact it is about the past when it was made, so it had to try to be timeless in that sense.

It's a Wonderful Life is well scripted

There are many, many quality lines in the film. The most famous is the one about the moon.

What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary.

Of course, that's not all. Every time George Bailey gives a rant towards Mr. Potter it sends tingles down my spine. Amazing, amazing writing.

It's a Wonderful Life has fantastic acting

Of course, the most famous actor in the film is James Stewart. However, did you know that Lionel Barrymore is actually Mr. Potter? And Donna Reed as Mary Hatch is pretty darned good too. All three are known for their wonderful acting, and they all hold true to form in this movie.

In short, there's nothing to dislike about the movie. There are no inaccuracies, no cringe-worthy lines, not even any time related issues. It's sweet. It's dramatic. There's even a moral for those who like that sort of thing.

It's perfect. It is truly the movie of the century.

This day is a newly celebrated holiday. The day was not an official holiday throughout Australia until 1994 when all states and territories celebrated for the first time on the same day. Nonetheless, in recent years it has become widely celebrated. According to a poll taken in 2005, 66% of Australian's indicated they would celebrate the holiday that year.

Like many first arrival holidays (such as Columbus Day in the United States), Australia Day is often debated as to whether it should be celebrated or not. This is due to the same reasons as other first contacts of native peoples--small pox and other diseases were introduced and many deaths occurred. The day is sometimes referred to as Invasion Day and Survival Day. Proposals have also been made to change the date of the holiday to make it farther away from the First Fleet arrival.

Celebrations for this day include:

• Fireworks
• Barbecue
• Sports competitions
• Festivals
• People's March and the Voyages Concert
• Celebrations celebrating multi-culturalism
• Citizenship ceremonies

Even though Australia Day is criticized, it is, nonetheless, a great historical day for all of Australia. Not all good came from this day, but the first voyage opened the doors for many things to come.

But it isn't poetry.

Poetry isn't something everyone can successfully write (not that anyone can write prose, but far more people can). According to many writers, poetry is the highest and hardest literary genre.

With good reason.

Meters, lines, stanzas, similes, onomatopoeia, rhymes, and all the other poetry techniques are what makes poetry so gosh darned complicated. But also the best.

With poetry, we aren't just writing a story with emotion. We are writing in emotion. We are writing in passion.

You see, poetry isn't a lot of things. It isn't straight-forward (most of the time), it isn't flat, and it isn't easy.

Flat? Yeah, flat. As in boring. As in no sense of emotion. As in no sense of story or meaning.

Poetry is anything but flat. Actually, with some poems you are able to read it three or four times and each time come to a new conclusion on what the poem is about and the metaphorical meaning behind it. That is far from "flat."

Of course, perhaps the comparison is a bit unfair. There are way too many types of poems (55 at my current count) to even compare. That's because you can write a haiku and an idyll about the very same subject with the very same story. You can't do that with prose. Sure, you can shorten a prose and take out some meat, but it will change the story and most likely won't be as good.

Poetry is entirely a different beast. With the many available forms and elements, the obvious answer of which literature genre is superior shouldn't even be a question. It's laughable to even suggest prose.

In China, it is a tradition for families to hold a family reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve. The day is referred to as the Eve of the Passing Year.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries with large Chinese populations including China, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Chinatowns around the world.

Although traditions vary widely across mainland China, most people buy gifts and clothing, cook foods, and clean their home to rid it of ill-fortune from the past year.

The first morning of the Spring Festival children greet their parents and receive a red envelope filled with money.

Fun facts about the Chinese New Year

1. The Chinese calendar does not use numbered years. The Chinese years are only numbered from outside China use the reign of the Yellow Emperor as the beginning year.
2. Traditional foods eaten for the Chinese New Year include melon seeds, mandarin oranges, fish, nian gao (a pudding known as tikoy in the Philippines), bakkwa (similar to jerkey), taro cakes, and turnip cakes.
3. Fireworks are incredibly common during the Spring Festival. Of course, many injuries occur and is now discouraged.
4. Bright red clothing is worn throughout the Spring Festival. It was once believed that bright red colors chase away bad fortune and evil spirits.
5. Flower decorations are common throughout markets and homes.
6. Nianhua is a woodblock printing which are on display and sold throughout the celebrations.
7. The dragon and lion dances which are common during the festival are believed to chase away evil spirits due to the deafening sounds of the drums, face of the creature, and aggressive dancing.
8. The koi fish is on display in many paintings and other art during this time of year because the fish is believed to bring success in the new year.

For non-Chinese, the Chinese New Year is a great time to experience traditional Chinese food, learn about Chinese culture, and watch the amazing Chinese dances and celebrations around the world.