Carly Simon: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

The question

What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

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.

Carly Simon

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Living in London in the late 60s—setting my hair with beer cans and shopping for shoes in Knightsbridge.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2010 source ↗

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Imelda Staunton English actress and singer

On my wedding day.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 June 2013 source ↗

Aretha Franklin

Right here, right now.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2003 source ↗

Fern Britton English television presenter and author

I am always happiest tucked up at home with my family.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2009 source ↗

Shobna Gulati

In recent times, when I was looking after my mum. She would take me on journeys in her mind and I’d travel with her wherever she went. I felt happy that I had the opportunity to have that time despite her illness.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 October 2025 source ↗

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Question What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? Identity & self

The absence of fear, and the recognition that we are all on this ship of fools together. We may in fact go to the big ship’s Art Deco bar and have a glass of champagne, toasting our foibles.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 January 2010 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

Forgetting. Or, worse yet, not recognizing who my real friends are.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2010 source ↗

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