Words We Heard: 'Going to work is way more than earning an income.'

I'm back! (And I'm Kiersten Feuchter now – yikes!) After a two-week vacation – the longest I've ever been away from work in my adult life – I have to say: I missed you guys, but a break was a must. Can we all go on a luxury honeymoon every year, well, no, but spending some 100% email-, laundry-, and schedule-free time was more refreshing than I could've possibly imagined. Now I want to challenge everyone to take a day or two and unplug – to whatever extent you can. Sure, it's scary imagining what shambles you might return to at the office or what your mother-in-law might feed your kid, but I bet you'll return with seriously renewed patience, energy, and motivation. Do it, and write me a note about how your perspective might have changed.

-Kiersten

• "You can always make up academics. That's never a huge worry if you fall a little behind with academics. What is much, much harder to do is make up social development." –Kevin Pelphrey, director of the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute at George Washington University, in an interview with NPR on how "'Social Camouflage' May Lead To Underdiagnosis Of Autism In Girls"
• "Maybe I juggle a lot of things because I love a lot of things. But I think beyond the hats that I wear, the main thing that drives me is looking to share the things I love, and looking to encourage others to do that same thing, whatever that would be for them." –Liz Wu, musician, teacher, Jane-of-all-trades, in an interview with Women of Cincy
• "When people lose vision, they often lose confidence and independence. Going to work is way more than earning an income. We help give more people a bit of their purpose and routine back." –Gary Ensing, rehabilitation specialist with the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, on the association's new manufacturing facility opening this month, in an interview with Movers & Makers Magazine