An Intimate Conversation with Annika Hanne, Founder of Jane Magazine

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We are thrilled to welcome Annika Hanne to our Proust Questionnaire series. Annika's journey is a beautiful blend of intentional living and creative passion. Her work as a creative consultant and the inspiring founder of Jane Magazine has fostered a community that embraces the art of slow, mindful existence.

Annika's vision is rooted in celebrating the simple, yet profound moments of everyday life. Her approach to motherhood and creativity is a testament to the power of slowing down and paying attention. She embodies the values of authenticity and presence, making her a true inspiration for those seeking a more fulfilling life.

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What is your current state of mind?
Clear and introspective as I prepare to enter the birth portal again.

How do you switch off?
Add water, move my body, go for a walk through the forest, write, listen to a mantra.

What is the trait you most admire in others?
Compassion.

Which living person do you most admire?
The collective generation of self-healers, change makers and those choosing to do it differently for the earth and for their children and for themselves. Also artists in general, those still choosing to show up and make things in this world, but especially those who are also present mothers and fathers. 

What is your greatest extravagance?
High quality organic foods and time.

What is the first thing that you do when you wake in the morning?
Stretch, and sometimes meditate.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Righteousness.

Do you have any daily rituals?
Lime and celtic salt in water first thing in the morning, and reading to my children.

What do you most like about your appearance?
My stomach that housed my children. 

What does wellbeing mean to you?
A calm and regulated nervous system.

What is the quality you most like in a person?
Kindness and the ability to listen.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Right!

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Odin (my partner), and my children.

When and where are you happiest?
At home, and in Paris circa 2018.

Which talent would you most like to have?
To draw.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To take things less personally, I’m working on it.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Creating JANE and our slow art movement, choosing slow and intentional living, and the self growth/healing that allows me to mother my children the way I do.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
That’s for the universe to decide.

Where would you most like to live?
Copenhagen and to return to Daylesford.

What is your most treasured possession?
My polaroids and my notebooks.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
To be consumed by comparison or contained by a system.

What is your favourite occupation?
Writing, mothering.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Integrity.

What do you most value in your friends?
Authenticity and acceptance.

Who are your favourite writers?
Joan Didion, Patti Smith, Mary Oliver, Ocean Vuong, Haruki Murakami, Rachel Cusk…

Who is your hero of fiction?
I’m not sure?

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Calliope, the Chelsea Hotel, or the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Mothers. 

What are your favourite names?
Vahla, Inès, Erling, Astor, Ocean, Alouette, Augusta, Violet, Freyja, Anges, Iris, Edia, Vada, Mathilde, Astrid, Delilah, Odette, Ylva, Eames, Yves, Lev, Amias, Caspian, Dove, Lucian…

What brings pleasure to your day?
Presence and choosing joy.

Do you have any products or objects that you can’t live without?
Not really, maybe books and something to write with.

Where is your favourite place to wake up in the world?
With my family.

What is your motto?
Slow down, see differently, pay attention, be present, reject mindless consumption and commit to experience and preserve the artfulness of life. 

Photography by Odin Wilde and Annika Hanne
You can follow Annika here