On Survival
wishing you all sound health
Alright, let’s talk about Nancy Guthrie, mother of TODAY show cohost Savannah Guthrie. I’m choosing to analyze this case because it is emblematic of a larger problem at scale: the withholding of information, namely physical and digital evidence in unsolved mysteries/missing persons cases. Yesterday, February 3rd, the TODAY show stressed the importance of the “digital aspect” of this case and yet we see no urgency in the retrieval of, for example, (non-manipulated) street surveillance or ring/nest cam footage (the second of which has apparently been destroyed and removed from the remote property.) Yes, this delay can be attributed to the tech companies’ business style but… let’s be real, we’re in 2026 and not relying on the Pony Express or snail-mail. Quick turnaround is possible, but apparently there’s a ransom note, which further complicates things.
The media is saturated with ‘updates’ on this case, some of which are helpful, but many of which are not. A lot of these updates are redundant, flighty, avoidant, and serving to distract. Of course, I wish for Nancy Guthrie to be returned safer home. At the same time, I have the right to be critical of the investigations surrounding this case. The seedy withholding of information is, again, emblematic of a specific kind of disease that is crippling our nation. The media is flooded with news of this one missing person from a very famous family–while other people’s problems–the crises of everyday Americans–are hidden in plain sight, despite our cries for help.
The suspicious air around this case is plaguing our screens, while Epstein survivors fight for their autonomy and dignity; thousands of Americans fight for basics like food, shelter, and healthcare; and I deal with a plant of a stranger who ambushes me outside of a bathroom in a local library because I didn’t wear a mask. Maybe, just maybe, I am not perfectly on my game all the time because I, too, am traumatized beyond belief.
Let’s wrap this up. I’m struggling, and am seeing like-minded people in a similar state of war. I’m not writing this post for clout, or to feed my ego. I’m writing this out of necessity–survival. I know how it feels to come from very little. I know what working multiple jobs at once, for years on end, feels like. I know the risks that come with advocating for raises–but I also know the rewards that can spring forward from such efforts. And finally, I know how it feels for your earnings and reputation to be severely bruised. (Thanks, Mom.) It’s agonizing. The power struggle is real and unfair but still, I remain undaunted because, well, I have to be. I can’t relive old patterns from the past, like seeing ‘friends’ that play nice-nice to your face only to undercut and sabotage you when you’re not looking. If you too have been through excruciating things, then you know what I’m talking about. You reach a point in life where the suffering becomes so unreal, so unbearable, that staggering forward to heal—surrendering—becomes the only viable option. There’s running too, that’s another option, but that only leads to prolonged suffering… and trust me, when you’re at your limit, you’re at your limit; you reach a point of not being able to endure any more. I’ve done my share of running, of overcompensating, literally, like fifty miles a week in college until I lost my period because I had to have something to control. In this case, it was my weight. I pursued running with rigor, just like my sister at Brown, because nothing else seemed to work in those first two years. I didn’t fit in socially and I struggled to pass some classes, which only seemed to confirm that I was indeed the dumb one of my siblings. Pardon the language but that’s how I felt.
As I retrace some of my steps here in Ithaca, now a dozen years later, I’m grateful to no longer be haunted by that demon, although a bigger spirit now looms in its place.
But I seem to have swerved from the main point of this write-up so allow me to return.
My point, to circle back to the case of Nancy Guthrie, is this: I’m appalled by news that serves to distract, divert, and clone. On the topic of surveillance, I’ve had two FOIL requests denied (one in Cambridge, MA, for an attempted break-in at an AirBnb, and another in Ithaca, NY, for a killing I was partial witness to.) In brief, how do we ensure that the law is upheld, and that surveillance is secured upon request? Things need to change; the system is caving in on people more than ever. And if you aren’t yet affected, that speaks to your privilege, with all due respect.
Safety is paramount, or should be. To cow is not the answer. We need teamwork–and bravery–y’all. Please reach out if you can be of support.
Sincerely,
Lena
