Community People Profiles is a series on the Salt Spring Exchange featuring local personalities on our dynamic Gulf Island. Our People Profiles are short interviews, with one answer questions to share with you a little about what each of the people we will feature are thinking about as they go about their lives living on Salt Spring Island.

This weeks featured local people profile is: Rhonan Heitzmann

Here’s a bit about Rhonan:

I first moved to the island back in 1983, 9 yrs old. Growing up here was an amazing and rich experience. The community is so full of conscious , artistic , alternative and spiritual people... I grew up exposed to ideas and energy that only later after traveling around the world a bit did I realize was so special. I made many life long friends and consider myself very fortunate! After graduating here in 1991, I went to SFU and hoped to join a consciousness revolution, "the 90's are going to make the 60's seem like the the 50's man" I used to like to say... But most of my peers there were only interested in getting a degree to get a job. I was dismayed by the general apathy. So I returned to the Island working as a carpenter and exploring the nature of reality. Good fortune introduced me to a Taoist/ anthroposophic meditation center on Read Island where I studied for 2 years, I again returned to the Island doing acupressure and carpentry, observing reality, and writing the odd poem. At the end of the 90's I moved to Nanaimo to study music at Malaspina, and wound up living on the "Big" Island for a while where good fortune struck again introducing me by chance hitchhiking to the amazing woman who would become my life partner, Estelle...but that is another story....Let's just say I was very happy to have studied in the great french immersion program here....We wound up living in Montreal while she finished her studies and I began a research project into the evolution of collective consciousness and how world events such as global warming , climate change and the world war on terror were contributing to the awakening of Global Consciousness. After traveling, we lived in France for 6 years before returning here in 2012. Looking for work I took over the Saltspring Water Company from my good old friend Malcolm Shoolbraid who had grown weary of it's operation after investing so much energy into it's initiation. Chop wood, carry Water...!

What brought you to Salt Spring Island?

While living in France I came to realize the incredible importance that society and community plays in framing a context for consciousness growth. I realized how so many concepts that I took for granted as common knowledge having grown up on Salt Spring were foreign and abstract notions to the collective mind in most of the rest of the world that I visited. Realizing also how important each new generation is to consciousness evolution, we decided to move back here and start our family.

What one thing about Salt Spring would you tell someone who has never visited the island?

Salt spring has an amazing community full of talented artists, musicians, crafts people, teachers, healers, farmers, and amazing conscious people, living on a jewel of natural wonder. You've got to check it out!

If you had a magic Salt Spring wand, what island thing would you change?

The authorities would make it easier to install rain harvesting systems that can be used for irrigation or household use. Successful rain harvesting requires a lot of storage which is easiest with large tanks. Now any tank over 5 feet tall requires engineered platforms which add a fortune to the cost of installation. With, hotter dryer summers, and dry winters like the last one, our islands water systems are in peril. I really don't want to be too busy hauling bulk water to people in need!

Which well known person, living or dead, do you think would be a good addition to the island?

Jimi Hendrix! We could use some good rockin , transcendent original music around here!

Is there a special project, business or initiative you are working on that islanders should know about?

We at the Saltspring Water Co. take great pride in offering a Free Delivery Service to bring you Saltspring's Finest Natural Spring Water, Straight from the Source to your Door! This island is blessed to have an amazing local abundant water source of the highest quality. With so many islanders dealing with not so great water out of our taps I am so pleased to be able to offer this amazing water at an affordable price with free home delivery! Check out us out.

Is there a really good interview question we should have asked you?

What is the secret to collective consciousness evolution?

How would you have answered your question?

Step by step, breath by breath, we each awaken fully in the present moment. As our consciousness awakens to the magnificence of each moment, no task is too big or small just what it is, necessary or inspired. Our community grows and deepens with each members conscious contribution to our collective moment, here and now,.... the more the merrier and the consciousness catches on and is infective! Generation by generation our world community catches on as more and more conscious participants grow!