SM
Watching my two baby dogs play. They are rat terriers, rescue dogs.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 July 2017 source ↗
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.
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Nile Rodgers
American guitarist
The first time I played a complete song on the guitar. It was A Day In The Life, by the Beatles.
Lupita Nyong'o
Actress
I thoroughly enjoyed high school in Nairobi: it was before everybody had a camera on their phone. I experimented with fashion and hairstyles that I am glad I don’t have any record of.
Angela Eagle
British politician
The day of my civil partnership.
Philip Glass
American composer
There are many moments of happiness for me. I swim in a sea of them. They are related to my family and work.
More from Shirley MacLaine
View profile →To know whether democracy really will work in the future.
The reviews of my latest film.
The Nutcracker Suite pas de deux.
At three, I knew I was too tall to be a ballerina, so that wasn’t going to happen.
More on time & hindsight
- What lesson has mattered most in your life? 138 answers
- What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore? 78 answers
- What worries you about getting older? 61 answers
- What counsel has proved most valuable to you? 28 answers
- If you could put a message on a giant billboard, what would it say and why? 25 answers
- What line from a parent, teacher, or mentor do you still repeat to yourself? 23 answers
Also answered this
Viggo Mortensen, Kylie Minogue, Robert Carlyle, Michael Ball, Joanna Scanlan, Bruce Willis
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject