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BE PART OF THE LEGACY

TAMPA BAY • FEBRUARY 23-24 2026

This FINAL encore experience will be unlike any other. Because like everything we do, it's been "reimagined" from beginning to end. It's not a virtual or hybrid event. It's not a conference. It's not a seminar, a workshop, a meeting, or a symposium. And it's not your typical run-of-the-mill everyday event crammed with stages, keynote speeches, team-building exercises, PowerPoint presentations, and all the other conventional humdrum. Because it's up close & personal by design. Where conversation trumps presentation. And where authentic connection runs deep.

Shadow Dancers

There are many shadows within the garden.  The flowers don’t bloom in the darkness, the pathways are overgrown, and the pools are no longer clear. They are murky and cloudy, and I see no fish in their depths.

Yet there is a peace and quietness within the garden.  It is an echo of things that were, like a whisper or a ghost image.  In the early mornings when a mist floats through the garden before the morning sun melts it away, legend has it that the shadow dancers still dance among the pathways.  If you listen carefully you may hear a night bird’s song and smell the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle in the air.  It is said that in the early hours just before dawn that two lovers sit hand in hand on the stone bench just inside the garden gate watching the shadow dancers.

Today the sun is high in the sky and the garden is silent.  The garden gate is rusty and the birdbaths empty.  Hidden within a secret grotto at the back of the garden a poet sits alone, the inspiration gone, the lovers gone, and the shadow dancers are nowhere to be found.

Perhaps it is time to leave the garden and return when the night brings the garden to life and a poet’s inspiration is there to be found.  Then if you listen carefully you might hear their footsteps and a gentle laughter or whisper, the shadow dancers need the night to dance in the moonlight.  They need us to believe in them for them to exist.  The garden is our imagination and our dreams.

In life we must always carry the garden tucked away for when we need a quiet moment or for a while to believe in the magic and mystery of life.  We need to be able to believe that love walks within the garden and the poet’s words flow upon the pages of our life.

We challenge ourselves to be bold and fearless.  We truly believe that we can be an engine for change and innovation.

In the garden we have many things, a garden swing, a garden gate, pathways and fountains, all the things to allow our imagination to be bondless and unleashed.  Far too soon the morning comes, and we wave goodbye to the shadow dancers and embrace the new day.  A day filled with drive and ambitions.  We challenge ourselves to be bold and fearless.  We truly believe that we can be an engine for change and innovation.  We should invite others to walk with us on our journey helping them to reach their goals and to realize their dreams and ambitions.

Point Of View

I think our hopes and dreams live in a different part of our world than our goals and ambitions.  To remain true to our self we need to embrace both and cross over often.  We need both to be whole.  We can be both dragon slayer and poet.  We can be both innovative and contemplative.  In truth I find comfort in being both an extrovert and introvert.  I need both to be whole.

We look forward to the sunrise to give us new hope yet embrace the night as the place where our dreams live.  Perhaps it is in that moment just before the dawn that they walk hand in hand not wanting to say goodbye.

Larry Tyler
Larry Tyler
Awaken the possibilities … then unleash them. After 55 years of successful retail management, I have returned to my passion of writing. I write Poetry, Storytelling, and Short Stories. As a child, I grew up on front porch storytelling. I would sit and listen to my Dad and his brothers tell these great stories that were captivating, and I always wanted to hear more. I wanted to experience the things they talked about. I started writing at a young age and reading everything I could get my hands on. At twelve years old I started a storytelling group and several of my friends became writers or poets. At 16 I hopped box cars and worked the tobacco fields, orange groves, picked cotton, and spent many nights around a campfire listing to life stories. Someone once asked me why I wrote. It consumes an amazing amount of time and I assure you it is not going to make me rich. I write so that my children can touch and feel my words telling of the ones that came before us and the stories they told me. These are the chronicles of our family and even though they come from my childhood memories and are deeply rooted in a child’s remembrance at least they may feel what it was like in the time before them and cherish the things the elders left behind. I am a Columnist & Featured Contributor, BIZCATALYST360 and I have The Writers Café, a group on LinkedIn that features Poets, Writers, Artists, Photographers, and Musicians . On Facebook I have two groups and one page; Dirt Road Storytelling, From Abandoned To Rescue Dogs And Cats, and About Life, Love And Living. As writers, it is true that we honestly do not know what we hold within us until we unleash it. When our words inspire others only then will inspiration return to the writer. I will spend my twilight years in search of the next story, the next poem, and the next image. I will take the time to enjoy my Wife, our Dogs, and Cats, and our amazing new home and I will always find the time to walk down a dirt road I truly hope is that I never have to read another book on Leadership, be on a conference call or see another plan o gram as these were the tool for what I did in life and not about who I am.

DO YOU HAVE THE "WRITE" STUFF? If you’re ready to share your wisdom of experience, we’re ready to share it with our massive global audience – by giving you the opportunity to become a published Contributor on our award-winning Site with (your own byline). And who knows? – it may be your first step in discovering your “hidden Hemmingway”. LEARN MORE HERE


14 CONVERSATIONS

  1. So beautifully written. We do need to go to these special places where our words can dance upon a stage! Where fairytale come alive and the sweet smell of lilacs are in the air. When our fantasies can become our realities perhaps in a less romantic or dynamic form. I love the poet in you!

  2. Yours is a suggestive hypothesis.
    I believe that with maturity you can be both. The experiences, the battles of life help us understand when to stay with the dream and when with everyday reality.
    However you gave me to think. Thanks!

  3. Your writing style is so poetic, Larry, and filled with deep meaning. I am reminded that I need to revisit another of your stories (about the mourning of the crows). Kat mentioned the very part of this story that struck me the most.

    The sentence “We need to be able to believe that love walks within the garden and the poet’s words flow upon the pages of our life” conveys to me that as much as we seek to be practical, we enjoy a bit of mystery in our lives. Enjoyed as always.

  4. Larry this is awesome. What resonated with me most was “our hopes and dreams live in a different part of our world than our goals and ambitions. To remain true to our self we need to embrace both and cross over often. We need both to be whole.” They are both sides of the same coin and filled with truth. Thank you for sharing your deep thoughts with us and I thank Raissa Urdiales for sharing it on Women of Faceboook Create.

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