People put me on a pedestal. Especially colleagues. And especially in social media circles. Some of the adulation is based on fact. Most of it...fiction.

And while I do my best to live up to these blandishments, I find myself uncomfortable with most of it. Not because I don't enjoy the flattery and veneration - I do. But it's awkward for me. Really. I am one of you. I am you.

Granted, I've had my share of career successes. Many of which have been publicly chronicled in stock photography circles. But what hasn't been so public or chronicled are my failures. Lots of them. False humility aside, I have had so many more failures than successes in photography. But I'm comfortable with this. Because in my world view, it's the failures and not the successes that mold you into the photographer you were born to be. As my dear friend, Karin Dreyer, always told me - no pressure, no diamonds.

Since the economy has taken a nosedive, I'm struggling just like you. I'm in uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory, just like you. I'm stumbling and fumbling along, one step at a time. One breath at a time.

It's hard for photographers to make a living. I know this. It's hard for me, too.

We all have one of two options. To whine. Or win. To grumble and grovel. Or to bloom and blossom.

I don't know where your head is at. Or where you're headed. But I know where my head is at and where I'm headed. I'm going to make a go of it. I'm planning to beat the odds. Tough it out. Have a plan. Come out on the other end smiling. How about you?

Let me let you in on a little secret. The easy choice is to quit. Cash in. Cop out. Tell yourself that it just can't be done. That it is too difficult. The much harder, but much more rewarding, choice is to...reinvent, retool, remodel, refurbish. Look for the light in the darkness. Find a way. Do whatever it takes to get on the road less traveled.

If it's any consolation, I'll be right there with you. I am you.