Where do the tough go to?

The saying goes "when the going gets tough the tough get going" right? The more I think about that statement the more I really wonder what that means. I have been a fashion and advertising photographer for as long as I can remember and right now it's tough! So I should get going, right?

The question is where does an advertising photographer like me go. I have knocked on the doors of fashion houses, called and called Ad agencies, sent email after email to folk that are potential clients and where has that got me, in a tough spot! I never thought that being a fashion photographer would be an easy life but come on! I think my work rocks not to say that there is no room for improvement, but I am very proud of my current body of work. I have received, "great work", "awesome images", "keep them coming" and other complementary remarks by fashion and advertising photographers. I have received these comments from Ad agencies but yet not a thing that resembles a paying assignment.

So as things get harder and harder (and I am not only talking just about a cash flow issue but an emotional tough spot as well) where the heck do I go? Some other fashion photographers have told me to do a 365 project and that is all well and fine but that is not what I am after. I want and need to pay my bills, support my family (you know the wife a few kids are running around) maybe just maybe go to a movie without thinking "this money could be used for something else". Where the hell do the tough go to?

I am sure that I am not alone in this situation and I am also sure that fashion photographers are not the only people that suffer from this. Does the world truly only work on luck and money? Cause that would freak'en suck. If I had no money issues I could just keep battling the "no doors opening emotional problem". Go to the doc and ask for some happy pills, but the truth is there is a money problem; I don't have any. Maybe all these people saying, "if you really want it you can do it" have never really done anything, have never been out on the edge,have never not slept for days at a time cause the car payment is due and you have no idea where the money will come from. I know, I know most of the world is in a recession and it's hard everywhere. I do not need or want to be rich or famous all I want is to make a living doing what I am great at and what I love - -MY CALLING, MY CALLING - know what I mean? Just to pay my bills on-time, have my little economy car and my little 4 bedroom apartment outside of Tel Aviv (Tel Aviv is supper pricy).

If I only knew where the tough go I would join them cause I am lost!