Heather Deeth: Hollyhock's New Iterim Executive Director

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - As of this morning, Heather Deeth has been the Interim Executive Director of Hollyhock for 19 days. Cortes Currents caught up with her on Sunday to talk about the changes in her life, as well as what’s happening in one of the most dynamic retreat centres on the West Coast. 

It is the peak summer season at Hollyhock. The programs listed on their webpage are grouped into categories like: wisdom teachings, social innovation, health & healing, creative expression, the Hollyhock Leadership Institute and signature holidays. 

Cortes Currents asked, Why is Hollyhock important? 

Heather Deeth: “People have transformative experiences here.  If we can give people the skills where they can have their own transformation internally themselves, and then collectively together, whether we're bringing people together and they're collectively arriving somewhere, that's really potent. If we can be seeding that more and more out in the world right now, that's exactly what we need to be doing.”

Cortes Currents: Have there been changes in your life, now that you're in the Director's seat?

Heather Deeth: “We're feeling Peter's  departure. I really loved working with Peter. I learned so much from him. It was a total gift to have two years of working and learning  from Peter.  I miss working with him very much and I'm thankful that he's become a dear friend  and is a deep ally of Hollyhock and will be for a long time. I feel that in his continued relationship with me as well.”

“For me, the change is in being with the people. I haven't worked on site since before the start of the pandemic.  I worked remotely, many people worked remotely during the pandemic and it's my first time coming back. I've been out here a few times, but not for longer stays, always as a visitor.”

“I arrived last week. It feels very different for me this time,  really connecting with our staff who are here on the island.”  

Cortes Currents: Where are you living right now? 

Heather Deeth: “I'm in Shivon Robinsong and Bill Weaver's house.  That's where my family's been staying.”  

Cortes Currents: What’s happening at Hollyhock right now? 

Heather Deeth: “This is the first summer where it's felt like we were back at strong peak summer numbers, the way it used to be. It's nice to see our guests returning.” 

“Today's a changeover day. We have ‘The Art Of Leadership’ starting.  I have Dan Siegel coming in on Friday to offer two workshops back to back, which is very exciting.”

Insights Meditation will also be this week and Cortes Island’s very own Bill Ophoff will be running his naturalist program.

“We had Sophie Gregoire Trudeau to start July off, which was a really incredible experience.  Many of our programs were running through the month of July.  We had our Canadian Psychedelic Summit in July as well, which was our third year of running. There were a hundred people this year and the feedback from that gathering was that it was extraordinary. We're almost through our peak season and so that's feeling really good because the last couple of summers we were still in pandemic recovery.” 

Cortes Currents: Tell me about your day. When do you start in the morning? What do you do first?  

Heather Deeth: “I'm an early bird, especially because  I'm from the East Coast.  Usually I'm up  around five.  I love the birds, and so usually if I am lucky in the morning, I listen to the early morning bird song. Coffee is very important. Then usually the first thing I do is I look at my calendar,  to refresh my memory about what's on and what's happening. So I can come in clear headed and ready. On a good day, I can get out for a walk in the mornings.”