The Practice Sessions: Hanna Keiner of Purposeful Connection

three questions for your morning

Hello beautiful human,

Whenever I ask my Practice Session guests to recommend someone they think I should invite into the series, it never fails. I get to meet the coolest people. So when Sarah Teresa Cook shared Hanna Keiner’s name, I didn’t hesitate to reach out on faith alone. Hanna’s Substack Purposeful Connection is chock full of good stuff and fun gifts—downloads, zines, videos—choose your own adventure!

I appreciate Hanna’s advocacy for those of us who are wired a little differently. And that she feels she is moving into new definitions and stories around this, as she describes below…so many of us feel that way! The conversation around diversity and ways of being in the world has come so far in my lifetime and I’m so glad it has! It takes all kinds in this world and we all have gifts to share and things we can try to make navigating the world a little easier. It’s good to have someone cheering for us along the way!

And what’s more, she generously shares her own morning practice of asking three questions as a way to wrap up one week and approach the next. As someone who wrote a whole series of Monday Mission Possibles this makes me happy. And of course, I’m sure you could do this practice any day or time of week. :-)

Now in her own words…

Hi, I’m Hanna. My work and play are intertwined at the moment - I am in the lucky (and privileged) position for work to be one of my playgrounds. I am a coach for deep thinkers; for people who think in constellations and spirals, not in straight lines. My publication Purposeful Connection is my main creative outlet at the moment where I invite my readers to pause and think and share my own stories so we can all feel less alone. I enjoy creating pieces of visual art as part of my writing process. Born and raised in Germany, I now live in the US Pacific Northwest with my family.

The Five Questions for the Practice Sessions

What are your current fascinations?

I love this question. Fascination is such a great word. I tend to think deeply about things and get pulled into different interests, sometimes so intensely that it feels obsessive, but ‘obsessive’ is not quite the right word. People like to phrase it as “passions” to soften it, but for me, that has an emotional component that doesn’t quite capture the experience. I have landed on ‘intense’ and am trying to reclaim the word as something good neutral, but I really like the word fascination. I looked it up just now: “the state of being fascinated : the state of feeling an intense interest in something”. This is my way of saying: I am fascinated by words and their meaning.

This month, I am fascinated by my reactions and feelings towards some of my parts. I am trying to make sense of an experience and I do this through writing and journaling, and talking to others, and listening, and thinking, and drawing. There’s something there I want to understand better, to untangle; I can’t yet make sense of it and that feels both frustrating and also so fascinating.

I’m fascinated by connections—new and old; how we create and nurture them; how the choices we make about how to show up / what parts of us we bring forward impact a relationship; how dynamics play out when multiple people are involved; what it means to be a good friend.

What does a “delicious day” consist of, for you?

A delicious day smells like the salty ocean breeze. It smells like freshly brewed coffee, sliced cucumber, and mint. It tastes like a warm croissant and a piece of dark chocolate. I hear birds chirping, the waves of the ocean in the background, and my favorite pen scratching against the pages of my journal. It sounds like my children running and playing outside. I see warm colors, books, flowers, crayons and watercolors. I feel a wool blanket wrapped around me—warm, but not too soft. I meant to read or write or create something, but here I am, just noticing the delicious moment. Later, I’ll walk to the farmers market of this small town, feeling like I’m part of this community.

I’m smiling at my attempt to be poetic.

We met with a financial advisor this morning who asked us about our ideal retirement and this is some of what I imagine it to be, if I’m lucky.

For now, I’m satisfied with small delicious moments throughout my day—like this one, right here, thinking, writing outside in the cold but sunny spring air, with my dog by my side.

How do you take care of yourself?

1) I incorporate my capacity (emotional, physical, and mental) into my weekly planning and pivot when I need to. I am so grateful to have the flexibility and privilege to do so.

2) I surround myself with people who are good for me; People who are honest and kind; who enjoy my intense parts; who remind me what’s good for me when I forget; who cheer me on.

3) I show curiosity, not judgment when something doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t mean I never have hard days or complain and vent when I’m struggling, but as soon as I’m past the initial “letting it all out”, I get curious about what’s happening for me.

We are the stories we tell. I’m curious if, at this point, you sense yourself moving into any new stories, or if there are stories you feel you’re recovering?

I am moving into new stories, but I don’t know yet what they will sound and feel like. One thing I have been noticing is that I’m moving away from AuDHD (Autistic + ADHD) language and using words like “deep thinker” or “humans who think in spirals and constellations, not straight lines”. It’s less about finding euphemisms to describe an experience and more about an expansion. Over the last few years, I have moved from “I am too much, I am irresponsible, I don’t fit in, I am weird, and I am no enough” to “I am autistic and ADHD and my experience makes sense.” This new story has been so liberating and yet, I can feel there’s a new chapter on the horizon that is both more expansive and more nuanced.

Let’s include a gratitude you’d like to share with us…a person, or a place, or something you’d like to express gratitude for who has helped you arrive at this moment.

I’m grateful for my sister who played a key part in helping me arrive at this moment. She was the one who answered the phone when I experienced (what I think was) a panic attack, my breaking point at which I realized I was in burnout and needed to quit my job. Together, we explored and discovered our neurodivergence, debriefed therapy sessions, and restructured our lives. She knows so many different versions of me and I am so grateful that she loves all of them.

I love any delicious day that includes “warm colors, books, flowers, crayons and water colors.” Hanna generously shared some of the books that she considers especially delicious over at Baker’s Dozen.

As if all that wasn’t rich enough, Hanna has shared a practice with us, below.

[ed. note: for the month of July 2025 we’re bringing this shared practice out from behind the paywalls to support a project of Hanna’s and give Sarah’s audience a sense of what a paid subscribership will offer. Enjoy!]

Thank you Hanna!