What Determines Influence?

I’ve just been reading What Determines Influence? at my friend, Saul Fleischman’s blog.

It’s a good question!

In terms of Social Media measurement 2 sites are bandied around a lot:
http://klout.com and http://peerindex.net , each measuring influence differently.

I suspect, past performance being a true measure, these sites will give way to a bigger and better sites in a 3/4 year time frame so they must keep reinventing to stay ahead of the game.

Look me up at http://klout.com/aypee and at http://www.peerindex.net/aypee

According to Klout’s measurements:

Arthur Partridge is an Explorer:
“You actively engage in the social web, constantly trying out new ways to interact and network. You're exploring the ecosystem and making it work for you. Your level of activity and engagement shows that you "get it", we predict you'll be moving up”

I would say that is accurate but my score floats around the 70 mark (– 69 today –) so there is little movement but I do get the significance of Social Media.

At Peerindex, I am measured by my topics and my sources and a finger print is produced to show my performance against 8 benchmarked topics and my Audience, Activity and Authority.

Both driven by what I say and when I say it and to whom but unless I change my topics the results will stay the same and will ultimately lower – so I must keep reinventing myself to stay ahead of the game

Social media is about Relationships and I agree with Saul’s statement
“In order to build accurate models that measure influence and help businesses understand who to interact with to improve their bottom line, we need to study and understand the relationships between people. In other words, who trusts who about what?”

This also stands true for personal interaction – it is about trust

In December I went to see Thomas Power talk about Digital Coaching and his chosen words “Open, Random and Supportive” certainly provided clarity to me, not only about Social Media but about relationships themselves.

Have a look at your relationships to see which ones work and which ones don’t and then assess how “Open, Random and Supportive” you are being 
both in your conversation on Social Media (the internet) and off (at home, work and in the real world).

What determines influence?

You do, by how you are being much more so than what you talking about.
True, what you talk about is important BUT if you don’t have the right state, it makes no difference – that is probably why the best politicians do not survive.

Who knows. The state that http://empireavenue.com is invoking in people may just be proving these points.

Sources Saul Fleishman http://osakabentures.com/category/english-blog-posts/
Thomas Power http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=8
Peerindex http://www.peerindex.net/aypee 
Klout http://klout.com/aypee

Psychic Girlfriend

 

"I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met."

~ Unassigned

source: various websites image screencrave.com

If you know who actually said, please let me know.

Thanks

AyPee

Freedom #AyPee4NLP

 

 

Freedom is everything and love is all the rest
~ Dr. Richard Bandler

 

source http://amzn.to/hISv6r

England’s National Day (St. George’s Day)

St George is the patron saint of England and to celebrate in England, this is the National Day of England. However, many countries observe St George's Day

St George's Day include England, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia. Cities include Moscow in Russia, Genova in Italy, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Beirut in Lebanon, Qormi and Victoria in Malta and many others. It is also celebrated in the old kingdoms and counties of the Crown of Aragon in Spain—Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and Palestine.

St George's Day is known as the Feast of Saint George by Palestinians and is celebrated in the Monastery of Saint George in al-Khader, near Bethlehem. It is also known as Georgemas.

Besides the 23 April feast, some Orthodox Churches have additional feasts dedicated to St George. The country of Georgia celebrates the feast St George on 10 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on 23 November (Gregorian Calendar). The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the dedication of the Church of St George in Kiev by Yaroslav I the Wise in 1051 on 26 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on the Gregorian 9 December.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Saint George oil painting by Raphael

‘Live in’ Maid

from Really funny jokes-Live in maid

A husband and his wife advertised for a live-in maid to cook and do the housework. They hired a lovely lass for the job.
She worked out fine, was a good cook, was polite, and kept the house neat.

One day, after about six months, she came in and said she would have to quit.
"But why?" asked the disappointed wife.
She hummed and har’ed and said she didn't want to say, but the wife was persistent, so finally she said, "Well on my day off a couple of months ago I met this good-looking fellow from over in the next county, and well, I'm pregnant."

The wife said, "Look, we don't want to lose you. My husband and I don't have children, and we'll adopt your baby if you will stay."
She talked to her husband; he agreed, and the maid said she would stay. The baby came, they adopted it, and all went well.

After several months though, the maid came in again and said that she would have to quit. The wife questioned her, found out that she was pregnant again, talked to her husband, and offered to adopt the baby if she would stay. She agreed, had the baby, they adopted it, and life went on as usual.

In a few months, however, she again said she would have to leave. Same thing. She was pregnant. They made the same offer, she agreed, and they adopted the third baby.
She worked for a week or two, but then said, "I am definitely leaving this time."

"Don't tell me you're pregnant again?" asked the lady of the house.
"No," she said, "there are just too many kids here to pick up after."

Joke  shortfunnyjoke.blogspot.com
Image jinni.com

Eh... What's up, doc?

 

Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out alive.

~ Bugs Bunny

 

 

Bugs Bunny

Star of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies films  produced by Warner Brothers, he starred in 163 films and made cameo appearances in 3 others

Bugs was born in 1940, in Brooklyn, New York, under Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers and according to Bugs, he was the only “Only One Grey hare”

His  Flatbush accent and his voice was originally supplied by Mel Blanc and he is the most prominent of the Looney Tunes characters

Source: Quotes various Bio and graphic from Wikipedia

How does Derren do it?

Amplify’d from www.yorkpress.co.uk

Updated: 10:14 Friday, May 13, 2005

myself into Derren Brown may just help me overcome one of my most deep-seated phobias.

I'll try it again on my own. And who knows, turning myself into Derren Brown may just help me overcome one of my most deep-seated phobias.

I can't honestly say I do. I still want to shudder with disgust. But during the mental exercise, I could feel that the sense of distance Phil was trying to bring between me and my irrational fear could work, if I was able to concentrate on the technique properly.

Now, Phil says. Think about a spider. Do you feel any less fear of it?

I do so, repeating the process several times. In an added little twist, from that several-times-removed distance, Phil asks me to imagine the film running backwards at high speed, the whole thing becoming ridiculous.

Now pull back again, and watch the person watching you watching the film, Phil says.

I pull back in my mind, and do feel the sense of repugnance at watching that spider lessened, as if by distance.

You're watching the film of you with the spider on a big screen. But now pull back a few seats, so that you are watching yourself watching the spider film.

Now, imagine you're in your own little private cinema, just you, Phil says.

I do so.

Now, make a film in your mind of what happened, starting with before you encountered it, through the worst moment, right up until it is over and you have recovered.

Phil takes over again for the 'therapy'. Think of a particularly unpleasant experience involving spiders, he says. I do: it's not difficult.

Totally irrational, says Susannah. What you're frightened of isn't the spider itself, but an exaggerated and unrealistic sense of some of its qualities: the fact that it is hairy, or can run very fast, or is about to jump on you.

Ugh. Just the thought of them makes me shudder.

Spiders...

I do and I can feel it working. It's only taken a few minutes, and I haven't put the technique into practice in a real situation yet. But I can see how it could help. At first, Phil says, you'll have to do it consciously. But after a while, it will become second nature.

Final step: instead of a window, imagine you're looking at that scene through a pair of coloured sunglasses: you're there, wearing the sunglasses, but the colour takes all the anxiety out of the situation, Phil says.

I tense up straight away, thinking of the party. Then, seeing it through the filter of that lovely blue, begin to relax. Dirk tells me afterwards he can see my shoulders slowly losing their tension.

the blue colour you associate with that pleasurable feeling.

OK, Phil says. Now picture yourself in that situation you don't like: at a party or large social gathering. But imagine you're looking at it through a window, a window with glass exactly the blue colour you associate with that pleasurable feeling.

Now focus on the feeling not the memory, Phil says quietly, his voice cutting into my reverie. I do: a feeling of utter bliss and fulfilment. What colour do you associate with it? Phil asks. Blue, I say: a deep but tranquil blue.

I do so, conjuring up a memory of a holiday in Australia long ago - of lying in bed with my wife (then girlfriend) on a long lazy afternoon with the sea and a secluded sandy beach just a stone's throw away.

Phil takes control. Think of a situation in which you were utterly relaxed and at peace, he says, and focus on it.

I've always hated parties. I shrink into myself and become sullen and uncommunicative. How to overcome it?

So can Dirk help Stephen overcome his biggest fears?

social gatherings...

Dirk, Phil and Susanna run the Bronze Dragon International Training And Therapy Centre in St John's House, St John Street, York. Individual therapy sessions cost £75-£80. Full training courses last a week and cost £700. Telephone 01904 636216 to find out more.

Derren Brown is at the Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow night. (Click through to our What's On channel called twenty4seven to read more...)

But does it work? I set them a challenge: first, to help me overcome a fear of large social gatherings; and second, to help me beat an irrational fear of spiders.

Breaking those patterns of mental association, and learning to control our emotional and mental state can transform our lives, the three therapists argue.

Anxiety is a survival mechanism gone wrong. We learn from painful experiences. "How often do you have to burn yourself before you learn fire hurts?" But sometimes that ability to learn can be harmful: a bad experience in childhood, for example, may leave us with a deep-seated, irrational fear of something ordinary.

It is partly about learning to control your emotional and mental state, and partly about recognising and breaking patterns of behaviour, says Phil. Irrational fears and phobias, for example, are essentially habits of mind that we acquire, not feelings we were born with.

They can be used to beat phobias, boost confidence and self-esteem, help you deal with stress - and even help break habits such as smoking and eating problems.

They run training courses and one-on-one therapy and motivational sessions - and claim the simple techniques they use can help ordinary people overcome many problems.

That's what Dirk and his colleagues Susanna Bellini and Dr Phil Callaghan specialise in.

The good news for anyone who has been spooked by Brown is that they can learn the techniques he uses. We can all be Derren Browns. And while we won't all be great stage performers - that takes years of training, hard work and practice - we can all use those techniques to improve our lives.

The way he often does it, explains Dirk, is by asking people for directions. While they are concentrating on that, he will suddenly say, in a disarming voice, "Could I have your wallet?" It's a classic interrupt - and more often than not the distracted victim has handed over their wallet before they realise what they are doing.

It is done mainly by the use of what Dirk calls 'interrupts' - literally, interruptions in a chain of behaviour that leave the person being interrupted confused, a little disoriented, and momentarily susceptible to suggestion.

Another good example of the way he does that is with his pick-pocketing. One of Brown's favourite tricks is to get people to hand him their wallets and then he walks off.

It all sounds simple. The key is the way in which Brown does it, Dirk says - elegantly, effortlessly, charmingly, and often by distracting your attention away from what he is doing by making you focus on something else.

That, and other subtle influences such lots of red in the room and images of bikes scattered around, was enough to plant in the actor's mind the idea that he wanted a red BMX bike, Dirk says.

At the end of the conversation, he pulled it all together by holding the actor's shoulder for longer.

Thereafter, throughout their conversation, whenever he slipped in a word that he wanted Pegg to pick up on - red, or bike, or BMX - he subtly touched the actor on the shoulder again, so that those words were subtly highlighted and became associated with pleasure.

What he was doing, says Dirk, was installing a conditioned reflex, what psychotherapists call an 'anchor'.

The mind magician began by asking Pegg to think of something that gave him real pleasure. When he could see that Pegg was concentrating, to the extent of feeling the sensation of pleasure associated with whatever it was, Brown touched him on the shoulder.

That explanation, however, was only part of the story, Dirk says. Brown is a consummate performer and he's not going to give away all his secrets so easily.

What was going on was far more complex, being a subtle exercise in subliminal conditioning.

"It was all very elegantly and cleverly done," Dirk says. "And at the end of the show Derren gave the somewhat perplexed viewers an explanation of how he had very subtly marked out certain words and letters to make Simon really want that bike, without him being consciously aware of why he wanted it."

Take the time Brown somehow convinced actor Simon Pegg that his fondest desire was to receive a red BMX bike for his birthday, something that, until he met Brown, couldn't have been further from the actor's mind.

There is nothing of the kind, of course. Dirk, one of three 'human potential' experts at York-based Bronze Dragon International Training and Therapy Centre, says it is all done by a combination of acute observation, deft distraction and subtle conditioning.

It is all a bit scary, and often leaves bemused viewers feeling there is more than a touch of the supernatural about Brown.

He seems able to pluck out information at will, mess with his subjects' memories and have them effortlessly dance to his tune while they are completely unaware they are doing so.

The man who will be bringing his Something Wicked This Way Comes stage show to York tomorrow has become legendary for the way he can apparently run rampant inside his subjects' heads.

What he is great at, however, is explaining how Brown, the magician and hypnotist turned manipulator of minds, does what he does.

When Brown looks at you with his frightening eyes you can almost feel your will bending to his own. When Dirk tries it - as a joke - he looks more like a startled cartoon cat than a master of mind control.

IT HAS to be said that Dirk Bansch can't quite pull off that moody, mystical, messianic stare Derren Brown does so well.

STEPHEN LEWIS discovers how to beat Derren Brown at his own game...

How does Derren do it?

York Press » Archive » Archive - Friday, 13 May 2005

See more at www.yorkpress.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/hMi67D

Failing Support

A woman's husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she stayed by his bedside every single day. When he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer.

As she sat by him, he said, "You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you gave me support. When my health started failing, you were still by my side... You know what?"

"What dear?" She asked gently.

"I think you bring me bad luck."

source thejokeyard.com
image 3.bp.blogspot.com

Hacked off?

A hack golfer spends a day at a plush country club, playing golf and enjoying the luxury of a complimentary caddy.
Being a hack golfer, he plays poorly all day. Round about the 18th hole, he spots a lake off to the left of the fairway.

He looks at the caddy and says, "I've played so poorly all day, I think I'm going to go drown myself in that lake."

The caddy looks back at him and says, "I don't think you could keep your head down that long."

source joke-pages.com 
image golf.com

Living your Dream?

“Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today”

~ James Dean

James Byron Dean

• Born February 8, 1931, Died September 30, 1955
• American film actor and Cultural Icon
• Most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark.
• The other two defining roles were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly farmer, Jett Rink, in Giant (1956)

His  fame and popularity rests on his performances in these three films and his death in a car crash made him a legend

He was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and he remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations.

In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Dean the 18th best male movie star on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars l

Sources: Quote thinkexist.com
Bio wikiepidea
images 1.bp.blogspot.com and
  4.bp.blogspot.com

The following is from my friend, Samuel D Naples’ Facebook page

Is your brain right or left?

Chetana Keni, psychologist and founder of Aurinko Academy for dyslexic children, helps you determine the dominant side of your brain Take a simple situation — a spelling test is on in a classroom and the word dictated is `kite'. One child associates the word with a kite he/she had seen the other day and thinks how much fun it is to fly one. As the mind wanders and the word ...is finally written, the child realises that another word has been called out in the meanwhile. Repeat the next word? — the first child calls out. In this time, another child has already written down the word and waits for the next one. Another situation — two people attend the same party separately. They meet a dozen new people. The first remembers the new acquaintances by their names. The other remembers them by what they were wearing or where they were sitting or even by their voices. But the names? Well, who remembers that? In situation one, the first child is right brain dominant and the other is left brain dominant and in the second situation, the first person is left brain dominant and the second is right brain dominant.

Which side of your brain is dominant?

Take this quiz to find out.

1. a) With a new task, I want to try and find the best way to do it. b) With a new task, I like to be told what the best way to do it is.
2. a) I think it is easier to draw a map and explain the directions. b) I feel telling the directions is better than drawing a map.
3. a) I would rather explore and find a way to assemble something. b) I will read the directions before assembling something.
4. a) I remember landmarks on roads. b) I remember names of roads.
5. a) I usually lose track of time. b) I constantly look at a clock or wear a watch.
6. a) It's okay if it gets a little late, it's not like you or I have a flight to catch. b) I like to keep timings at all costs.
7. a) I rely on my gut feeling when I have to make a decision. b) I write down the pros and cons before taking a decision.
8. a) I try to find at least 2-3 ways to solve a problem. b) I try to find one good way to solve a problem.
9. a) People can't understand how I find my things. b) People feel that I am very organised.
10. a) I start many jobs that I may not finish. b) I finish a task before starting with a new one.
11. a) I see the big picture and then work my way to it. b) I like to get all details sorted out before I look at the big picture.
12. a) I really don't prefer working in a group. b) Working in a group is easy provided all follow rules and sequence of procedure.
13. a) I can speak while reading or writing. b) I can write or read best in silence.
14. a) I am flexible and sometimes unpredictable. b) I am consistent.
15. a) I feel college education is not important, I can still make it with my talent and creativity. b) I am born to be a doctor, engineer or a lawyer.
16. a) It's easy for me to understand mathematical concepts and abstract theories. b) I am better at mathematical calculations than applying concepts.
17. a) I like easy-to-use electronic gadgets. b) I am actually good with complicated machinery.
18. a) Impromptu activities interest me. b) I like to follow a given schedule.
19. a) I like to move about when giving a presentation. b) I usually stand in a place when giving a presentation.
20. a) Routine bores me. b) Familiarity reassures me.

If you have answered more As than Bs then you have right brain dominant characteristics. Greater Bs display left brain characteristics. Equal number of As and Bs show both characteristics. The above quiz is only an indicative of brain dominance and is not a standardised test for detecting brain dominance. One needs to get a thorough clinical assessment done from a certified clinical psychologist to get the actual reference.

Which side are you on?

It is a proven fact that the two hemispheres of the brain control vastly different aspects of thoughts and actions. Both the right and the left halves of the brain have their own specialisations and shortcomings. The left side is dominant for language and speech and the right side is for visual-motor tasks. For most of us, one half becomes more dominant than the other. Chetana points out that most often left brain dominant people are involved in standard jobs, while right brain dominant people opt for something out-of-the-ordinary. But, she adds, just because one has a particular brain dominance it does not mean one should be typecast in a particular way. "With the correct attitude and hard work, you can still achieve your dreams," says Chetana.

When left feels right

Left brain dominant personalities understand sequence and are well organised and look into details. They understand logical sequences and abide by rules. They explain a situation starting with the details and then go to the main picture. They are factual and can be argumentative and will counter every argument with systematic points. They like to plan ahead of a trip or project and are less likely to be impulsive. They are punctual and tidy. They like to stick to familiar solutions and resist anything new and untried. Right brain dominant personalities don't go from point A to point B but ricochet from different angles and views. They would rather explore than wait for a handout telling them what to do. They visualise better and explain their ideas through examples. They are dreamers, risk-takers, non-judgmental and can see both sides of an argument. They embrace new ideas and in an argument can frustrate the other side by bringing out random comments

Samuel D. Naples

 
http://www.aurinkoacademy.com/
http://www.facebook.com/chetanakeni
http://bangaloredyslexia.blogspot.com/

Lemon Entry my Dear Watson

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend.

'Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.'

Watson replies, 'I see millions of stars.'

'What does that tell you?'

Watson ponders for a minute.' Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?

Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. 'Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent.'

Source: Various
Graphic Wikipedia

What else does a man need to be happy?

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin;
what else does a man need to be happy?
~ Albert Einstein

Einstein’s biography is available at the Wikipedia site.

Source brainyquote.com

That’s another tail

A customer walks into a restaurant and notices a large sign on the wall that says, "$500 if we fail to fill your order."

When his waitress arrives, he orders elephant tail on rye. She calmly writes down his order and walks into the kitchen. Almost immediately the customer hears an explosion of voices from the kitchen. The restaurant owner storms out to the customer's table and slaps down five $100 bills.

"You got me this time, buddy”, he says, "but I want you to know — that's the first time in 10 years we've been out of rye bread."

from montereyherald.com Barbara Quinn: Sharing a few food jokes
image ordinary80.blogspot.com

The story of Mothers’ Day

From http://greenesrelease.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/3564/

Mother’s Day is a special day in which every child, young and old, is supposed to honour their mothers. The original concept for the day was that all mothers are supposed to be honoured, whether they were living or gone.

During the 17th century, those living on the British Isles initiated a religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was held on the forth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured the reunification of mothers and their children, separated when working class families had to send off their young children to be employed as house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to return home for the day to visit with their parents. The holiday’s popularity faded in the 19th century, only to be reincarnated during World War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial) aspects of the celebration American counterpart.

In the United States, Mother’s Day experienced a series of false starts before eventually transitioning into the “Hallmark” holiday that we celebrate today. In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis was the first woman to hold an official celebration of mothers, when in her home state of West Virginia, she instituted Mothers’ Work Day to raise awareness about local sanitation issues. During the Civil War, she expanded the scope of Mothers’ Work Day to include sanitary conditions on both sides of the battlefield.

Meanwhile Julia Ward Howe, author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” attempted to institute a national celebration of mothers that honoured women’s inclinations toward peace (rather than cleanliness). In 1872, she initiated and promoted a Mother’s Day for Peace, to be held on June 2, which was celebrated the following year by women in 18 cities across America. The holiday continued to be honoured by Bostonian women for another decade, but eventually phased out after Howe stopped underwriting the cost of the celebrations.

Then in 1905, Anna Reeves Jarvis passed away and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, took up her mother’s torch. Anna swore on her mother’s gravesite that she would realize her lifelong dream of creating a national day to honour mothers. In 1907, Anna launched her campaign by handing out white carnations to congregants at her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1908, her mother’s church acquiesced to Anna’s request to hold a special Sunday service in honour of mothers – a tradition that spread the very next year to churches in 46 states. In 1909, Anna left her job and dedicated herself to a full-time letter-writing campaign, imploring politicians, clergymen and civic leaders to institute a national day for mothers.

The idea gained immense popularity over the years and in 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mothers Day holiday.

In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”, and created the Mother’s Day International Association.

“She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.”

On May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

Through much hard work and dedication, Anna Jarvis finally realized her goal of making a day that would honour mothers everywhere. Her goal went further than the United States, as Mother’s Day is now celebrated in other countries too, such as Japan, China, Canada, and Mexico.

The Story of Mothers’ Day

  From http://greenesrelease.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/3564/

Mother’s Day is a special day in which every child, young and old, is supposed to honour their mothers. The original concept for the day was that all mothers are supposed to be honoured, whether they were living or gone.

During the 17th century, those living on the British Isles initiated a religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was held on the forth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured the reunification of mothers and their children, separated when working class families had to send off their young children to be employed as house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to return home for the day to visit with their parents.

The holiday’s popularity faded in the 19th century, only to be reincarnated during World War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial) aspects of the celebration American counterpart.

In the United States, Mother’s Day experienced a series of false starts before eventually transitioning into the “Hallmark” holiday that we celebrate today.

In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis was the first woman to hold an official celebration of mothers, when in her home state of West Virginia, she instituted Mothers’ Work Day to raise awareness about local sanitation issues. During the Civil War, she expanded the scope of Mothers’ Work Day to include sanitary conditions on both sides of the battlefield.

Meanwhile Julia Ward Howe, author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” attempted to institute a national celebration of mothers that honoured women’s inclinations toward peace (rather than cleanliness). In 1872, she initiated and promoted a Mother’s Day for Peace, to be held on June 2, which was celebrated the following year by women in 18 cities across America. The holiday continued to be honoured by Bostonian women for another decade, but eventually phased out after Howe stopped underwriting the cost of the celebrations.

Then in 1905, Anna Reeves Jarvis passed away and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, took up her mother’s torch.

Anna swore on her mother’s gravesite that she would realize her lifelong dream of creating a national day to honour mothers. In 1907, Anna launched her campaign by handing out white carnations to congregants at her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1908, her mother’s church acquiesced to Anna’s request to hold a special Sunday service in honour of mothers – a tradition that spread the very next year to churches in 46 states.

In 1909, Anna left her job and dedicated herself to a full-time letter-writing campaign, imploring politicians, clergymen and civic leaders to institute a national day for mothers. The idea gained immense popularity over the years and in 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mothers Day holiday. In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”, and created the Mother’s Day International Association. “She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.”

On May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Through much hard work and dedication, Anna Jarvis finally realized her goal of making a day that would honour mothers everywhere. Her goal went further than the United States, as Mother’s Day is now celebrated in other countries too, such as Japan, China, Canada, and Mexico.

images of Anna Reeves Jarvis and her daughter Anna  wvculture.org
image of Julia Ward Howe from wilsonsalmanac.com