Introducing you to Mischa Cooper, a long term experienced chef who also holds a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutritional Medicine. Mischa has been cooking creative, delicious and healthy food for over 32 years. Two and a half years ago she brought her first home in the historic village of Millthorpe.
Offering her period home to Airbnb visitors seemed to be a great option for Mischa who is a wonderful host and loves to have a chat about the local area with her guests. Mischa can easily introduce you to some of the best local offerings: she knows where to find the tastiest local food, can give you advice on which wineries to visit and what local attractions are a must-see in Millthorpe and the surrounding area.
Inside Mischa’s home
Mischa loves living west of the great divide, saying that the local community has provided her with more company from within her small town community, which consists of only 950 people, then what she previously experienced when living in a city of more than 4 million people. She finds herself accepted, included, engaged with the locals in the township. At the time that Mischa decided to buy in Millthorpe, housing was affordable and the demographic ideal for her. The average age of a person in the Orange region is 35 years of age and this made things even more appealing to her and easier to make friends.
Mischa is passionate about organics and is ideally situated to delve further into her passions for both food and health, living in a region renown for all things food, wine, and one that provides the health care for the region.
Mischa, the radish and the lemon tree
A bountiful backyard
Her backyard is one of those places that Mischa likes to spend her time in, tending regularly to the fruit trees that she inherited when she brought her property. This includes a prolific lemon tree, as well as mulberry, apple, plum, olive and, walnut trees. Her veggie patch, which she started herself, has lettuce, parsley, mint, spring onion, garlic, broad beans, rainbow silverbeet, kale, carrot, celery, carrot, parsnip, thyme, tomato, potato and, radish, of course! Oh, and we can’t go past the animals that live next door, the donkey, alpacas, and chickens. You can easily give them a pat and a hello as you head out.
Six degrees of separation
One of the signs that signals a nano-nano moment for Mischa is the ongoing experience of meeting people who live locally but whom she has met and known from other times and places where she has lived previously.
In her quest to find and to make her house a home, Mischa has continued to learn lessons, change and refine her approach to life. She trusts in and works with her insightful observations.
She finally put her foot down with herself at the end of last year. She was reaching the end of her personal nine-year, the ending of a cycle.
The end of a nine-year cycle is a year of completion, unraveling, and letting go of the old to make space for change. This change can be somewhat dramatic and tumultuous, affecting possessions, relationships, jobs, geographical location, spirituality, and health. It’s all under review this year. Felicia Bender
She had been happy doing random jobs when she first arrived at Millthorpe as she was meeting new people and exploring what the region had on offer. In time, she began to see that the
nature of her work choices meant she was over-committing and meeting other people’s needs and desires over her own.
Learning to work with the power of focus
She said to herself, ”I am going to stop everything and I am going to start again! This time with an opportunity that really fits my needs. I will no longer just do or accept anything on offer. I will be doing the right thing by myself now”! She said no to what wasn’t right and trusted, as she moved into her 1 year, that she deserved something more, something that was better and perfectly matched to meet her needs and, that she would find it. Mischa began to create win-win situations for herself.
A one-year brings new beginnings, independence, initiation, and achievement. It holds more clarity than last year and is the start of a new nine-year cycle. It’s time to plant the seeds for what you want to see grow and mature during the next nine-year cycle. Don’t waste it with frivolous activities or useless relationships. It can be a somewhat lonely year with feelings that a lot rests on your shoulders and only you can get it done without help from others. And that’s true. Yet remember, there’s a difference between solitary pursuits based on healthy independence and being alone. Independence is your mantra. Felicia Bender
What Mischa achieved and how!
She believed that she was deserving of a perfectly crafted career move and a great opportunity to boot. Mischa has just been offered a role as the Executive Chef at an exciting new boutique and specialty hotel in Orange, The Bing Street Boutique Hotel.
Her aim is not to rely on only doing one thing or on the thought that she has arrived. There will be no destination as such for Mischa. Living fully is to be more about juggling the things that she loves and including all of them successfully into her life.
The Mind Map
When Mischa decided that her new 1 year was to be about meeting her needs successfully, she decided to make a mind-map to help her achieve each focus.
She starts by writing the name of the month in the middle of the page. The map includes her focus on what she wants in regard to relationships, friendships, career, home, and health.
Sometimes she will add other headings. She writes clearly and expresses her desires in the positive on what she intends to achieve in that month, what she is focused upon having in her life.
She includes; things like:
- finish painting the bathroom
- create a warm welcoming home
- improve my energy
- drink more water
- reduces substances
- anything that she wants to focus on and achieve.
Creative Mind Map
In her last mind map, she included a focus on creating healthy boundaries both in career and friendship. She wanted to avoid falling for flattery and to ensure that her needs and desires were also being met.
She keeps her mind map private and places it somewhere where she can access it regularly. She calls it Mischa’s focus on needs and intentions.
Find Mischa at Millthorpe
If you would like to stay at Millthorpe, we highly recommend looking Mischa and her house up on Airbnb:
And yes, about that fella down at the pub mentioned in our headline, there is a local chap who takes his homegrown veggies to one of the town pubs, (the bottom pub in case you are visiting) to show to and share with the locals!