When were you happiest?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Yo-Yo Ma said elsewhere, not written here
When our children were born.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2016 source ↗

Others on this question

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Jennifer Hudson American singer and actress
Around the holidays, because I get to spend them with family and friends.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 January 2018 source ↗
Susan Calman Scottish comedian
Genuinely – and my wife, Lee, knows this – dancing with Kevin Clifton on Strictly.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 November 2018 source ↗

More from Yo-Yo Ma

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Question What are you most proud of? Identity & self
Mr. Rogers lives on. There’s so many legions of people that grew up with him, and they’re still in a way growing up with him. He, of course, was a minister. ... And the children of the show, in the neighborhood, are his ministry. And what a beautiful thing that is. So I, to this day, when someone says, “What are you most proud to have accomplished?” I am so proud to have been a part of that.
Recorded Krista Tippett, On Being, recorded before a live audience, On Being with Krista Tippett, 26 July 2018 source ↗
Question When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do? Daily life
While I’m on stage, you are all my guests, because that’s sort of the unsaid agreement. While you’re my guest, if something bad happens on stage, I often think of Julia Child, “Oh, the chicken’s fallen on the floor! Yes. Oh, well pick it up and put it right back.” And you know what? Everybody’s with you. […] So whatever you practice for on the engineering side that fails is all right, because we have a greater purpose. The greater purpose is that we’re communing together and we want this moment to be really special for all of us. Because otherwise, why bother to have come at all? It’s not about proving anything. It’s about sharing something.
Recorded Krista Tippett, On Being, published July 2018, On Being (The On Being Project), 1 July 2018 source ↗
Question In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life? Daily life
But part of practicing to me is actually an active enjoyment. When people ask, “How much do you practice and do you like practice?” Well, I think it’s always getting your mind to go from “I should” to “I want.” It’s like the magic button that only you can locate. When you’re doing the “should” thing, time happens very slowly. Ugh, I’ve been practicing forever! Fifteen minutes. But when you want to do something, an hour has passed. Your control of time depends on whether you should do something or whether you want to do something.
Recorded GQ, GQ interview, 1 January 2020 source ↗

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