William Shatner's Trip to Space

[Koushi]

I came across a short article (https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/wil...pt-1235395113/) which had an excerpt of Shatner's new book, and found it to be (unexpectedly) profound.

Shatner writes:

I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things—that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe. In the film “Contact,” when Jodie Foster’s character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, “They should’ve sent a poet.” I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound.

He continues:

It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna . . . things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.

and ending with:

It [the overview effect] can change the way we look at the planet but also other things like countries, ethnicities, religions; it can prompt an instant reevaluation of our shared harmony and a shift in focus to all the wonderful things we have in common instead of what makes us different. It reinforced tenfold my own view on the power of our beautiful, mysterious collective human entanglement, and eventually, it returned a feeling of hope to my heart. In this insignificance we share, we have one gift that other species perhaps do not: we are aware—not only of our insignificance, but the grandeur around us that makes us insignificant. That allows us perhaps a chance to rededicate ourselves to our planet, to each other, to life and love all around us. If we seize that chance.

Captain Kirk might be on to something.

Gassho,
koushi
STLaH

[Kotei]

Thank you, Koushi, nice read from the captain.

Hopefully the rest of us humans will understand it without the need to spend $28 million (charge for a tourist flight?) and burning many tons of Hydrogen/Oxygen fuel, that has been produced using fossil fuels.

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Kokuu]

Wonderful to read of Bill's voyage to the final frontier.

His words remind me of the poem by the astronaut Thomas Stafford:

White twisted clouds and the endless shades of blue in the ocean
Make the hum of the spacecraft systems, the radio chatter
Even your own breathing disappear
There is no wind or cold or smell to tell you
You are connected to Earth
You have an almost dispassionate platform
Remote, Olympian and yet so moving
That you can hardly believe how emotionally attached you are
To those rough patterns shifting steadily below

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Tairin]

Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Onkai]

Gassho,
Onkai
Sat lah

[Bokugan]

Thank you so much for sharing this, Koushi

Gassho,

Bokugan
SatToday LaH