William Shatner describes the profound grief he felt when he finally went to space for real

[1]( [William Shatner describes the profound grief he felt when he finally went to space for real]( Statistically speaking, the number of humans who have traveled into space is insignificant. But the experience of leaving our home planet and venturing into the great beyond is incredibly significant for the individuals who have actually done it. One of those fortunate humans is actor William Shatner, who spent three years pretending to hurtle through space in his iconic role as Captain James T. Kirk on the original "Star Trek" series. As captain of the USS Enterprise, Captain Kirk was dedicated to exploring "strange new worlds," seeking out "new life and new civilizations" and boldly going "where no man has gone before." Naturally, Shatner has spent a lot of time pondering what it would be like to actually experience leaving Earth, and when he took the opportunity to join Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin trip to space in October 2021 at age 90, he was able to compare how his expectations met up with reality. Shatner shared an excerpt from his new book with Variety, and it reveals that his initial reaction to being in space was surprisingly dark. It did lead to some profound revelations, though. [Read the story]( [2]( [Complete strangers rally behind man with Down syndrome who was fired by Wendy's after 20 years]( We’ve come a long way when it comes to how we view and treat others with disabilities. However, to say that our society has completely done away with ableism would be naive. Dennis Peek, a man with Down syndrome, had worked at a Wendy’s in North Carolina for 20 years. According to his sister Cona Turner, Peek’s dream was to one day have a “huge retirement party.” Instead, he was abruptly fired after two decades of service. "They told me [he] was unable to perform the duties of a normal person’s job!!!!,” Turner said in a now viral Facebook post. She added that she was looking into wrongful termination of a special needs employee and considering throwing a retirement party for Peek anyway. “They have no idea how they hurt my brother,” her post concluded. Little did Turner know, but voicing her frustrations online would be just the catalyst needed to turn things around in a positive way. [Read the story]( Did a friend forward this to you? [Subscribe here]( [3]( [Service dog flunks out of training school in spectacular fashion]( Double H Canine Academy in Louisville, Kentucky is a place where dog owners can take their rambunctious pets and have them turned into respectable members of the family. However, as you can tell in this hilarious video, not all dogs are meant to follow orders. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Ryker. Ryker is living his life to the fullest. While he may never be the world's greatest service dog, he continues to provide an invaluable testament to being true to one's self. [Read the story]( [4]( [Our childhood fairytales got wolves wrong]( We are all familiar with the stories of The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. In every childhood tale, wolves were depicted as deceitful and threatening - creatures that would devour our livestock and grandparents. As a child, I had chills when wolves howled in films. All it took to change this perception was taking one step into Wolf Park, a research and education facility in Battle Ground, Indiana. As a visitor, intern, volunteer, and now staff member, I've observed the wolves at Wolf Park mourning packmates who have crossed the rainbow bridge, gently tending to pups, and spending afternoons playing chase on frozen lakes or grassy meadows. Studying wolves at such a close distance is enough to alter anyone's perceptions of this apex predator. One of the things I always tell the more than 20,000 visitors that come through our facility each year is, “Disney got wolves wrong.” The deeply rooted misconceptions about wolves, reinforced by film and media, that prevent people from understanding the essential role of wolves in our environment are the same misconceptions that existed 50 years ago when Wolf Park was founded. [Read the story]( [5]( [A stadium of people launched into an incredible, spontaneous 'Bohemian Rhapsody' sing-along]( When polarization starts to feel like a defining characteristic of humanity, sometimes we need a reminder that people really are capable of coming together as one. Watching a stadium full of Green Day concertgoers bust out their best "Bohemian Rhapsody" when it came over the loudspeakers is just such a reminder. As the person who uploaded the concert footage to Reddit noted: "For almost 6 minutes, the equivalent of a small city sang, with one voice, the beautiful song of a man who has been dead for decades. If you can do this, you're not just a famous person, you're a legend." [Read the story]( Find us on the World Wide Web: [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [Website]( [LinkedIn]( Copyright © 2022 GOOD | Upworthy, All rights reserved. 1370 N St Andrews Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90028 You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.