Giving Is Receiving
BY: KATHRYN MELOY
Oct 18th, 2025

Announcements:

Hello everybody!!

I can’t believe this is our 4th year holding this private fundraiser! We’re so grateful to see new and familiar faces today. Thank you for being here to show your love and support in helping others.

This year, we’re excited to be supporting the Tamara Learning Academy and these two beautiful and talented musicians, Kensie Coppin and Lexi Lew.

Before you hear from all of them, I want to share a story about giving, After all, this is The Giving Heart Music Series.

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Speech: 

My friends and family know that giving comes as natural as breathing to me. But what I didn’t understand for the longest time is that giving isn’t just about what I can offer, but also about what I allowed myself to receive. Not just material things, but receiving help and acts of kindness.

My husband knows firsthand that receiving help is not my forte. I’d come inside sore after hauling wheelbarrows full of rocks and bricks, and he’ll say, “Why didn’t you wait for me?” and I’d say “because it needed to get done!” Some people may see that as stubborn, or impatient ...but for me, it’s about being a team player and giving my husband the gift of time to do what he wants to do after work and not what he has to do.

There are various types of givers out there. Some people give for the pure joy, others give so they can feel valued, appreciated, or even loved. Regardless of why we give, one thing I do know, is that givers are like teapots. We pour and pour until our kettle runs dry. If we don’t allow ourselves to receive …. eventually, we have nothing left to give, not even to ourselves.

At times, givers may begin to feel resentful, worn out, or worse… our survival mechanism kicks in and we smother our light out like water on a lit candle wick.

In 2007, I learned an important lesson in the way I didn’t expect. Back then, I was a full-time fine art photographer, exhibiting and selling my work while earning awards and international recognition in competitions. That’s when I met a man by the name of Mike Edleman. He was an older gentleman, life coach, and art collector. He purchased several pieces of my artwork, but he saw something in me then what I printed on canvas and we became fast friends.

Fast forward to 2009, I opened a home staging company. To support my artists peers, I featured their original artwork in my stagings with hopes buyers would fall in love with both the house and their art. I was excited when I landed my very first builder job to stage an entire model home. I was featuring my first artist—ironically, his name was Michael too. He painted these really large beautiful abstract paintings that were perfect for staging this sleek, modern condo in South Austin. I had 6 hours to make a great impression before the real estate photographer was due in.

However, it was one of thoooooseee days! It might have even been a Monday. The furniture truck was an hour and a half late. When it finally showed up, half the pieces were not what I ordered. By the time they came back with the right stuff, I had only three hours left to stage and, on top of that—the artist was nowhere to be found.

Let me tell ya, trying to stage a house without furniture and art is like showing up to a potluck with an empty crockpot! My brand-new company’s reputation was on the line, so I did what most stagers would have done… PANIC!!!

While I was doing my best to piece this tangled puzzle back together, I finally reached the artist and he reluctantly admitted that he had no car… no driver’s license …as he was a recovering alcoholic.

In that moment, it stopped being about the art and became about the person. I realized he needed help and so did I.  I remembered my art collector friend Mike lived in Lakeway, and conveniently, so did the artist.

I reluctantly called Mike and explained my situation. Without hesitation his first words were…. “What’s his address?” Mike picked up the artist, carefully loaded his artwork up, and the two—total strangers—shared a spiritual conversation and bonded over art on the drive over.

Meanwhile, there I was, 9 hours later, the photographer had to be rescheduled, I was starving, sweaty and scrambling to finish the stage. I figured once they guys dropped off the art; they’d leave. Instead, Mike came back with pizza for the three of us. We stood in the kitchen stuffing our faces, well…. mostly me.

I thanked Mike for going out of his way for us and admitted something that felt very vulnerable at the time—which was  that asking for help was really hard for me because “my role is to be the giver, not a receiver.”

Mikes smile turned up an extra notch, he looked me dead in my eye, and said something I never forgot… “Giving is the same thing as receiving”. At first, I disagreed with him because giving felt active, and receiving felt passive. They were like polar opposites to me. Throughout the year I continued to chew on his words. Finally… one day it hit me!

I realized we were all giving and receiving all the same time. I gave the artist a chance when he needed support the most, and he gave beauty to my staging. Mike gave the artist a ride and received the joy of giving. Together we were a giving/receiving connection.

I'm not going to lie, most of my life I treated receiving like a sign of weakness. That moment taught me that receiving doesn’t mean I’m failing at being strong, it means I’m human and humans aren’t meant to be one-way rivers. We’re meant to flow in all directions. Mike left a lasting impression on me that day.

We all strive for work/life balance. Why not strive for give/receive balance too? When the giving/receiving cycle is working, we allow others to fill our kettle with acts of receiving. We honor the truth that everyone has something to offer.

I feel that asking for help is one of the bravest things givers can do for themselves, especially in times of vulnerability.  I think it’s part of the self-love equation.

If you are wired like I was… ask yourself …How full is your teapot? Is it running low or empty? If so, I encourage you to allow yourself to be held in others gift of time and be taken care of too. Don’t be afraid of the giving/receiving connection and let today be a reminder that you are worthy of receiving.

I will close by thanking every single one of you for being givers today and supporting this wonderful school and these super talented and beautiful musicians.

Thank you for listening to my story!

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