NC
When my son was born. Actually, probably a month after, when I got over the enormous responsibility of being a mum.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 October 2021 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 →
Max Whitlock
English artistic gymnast
Standing on the podium in Rio: winning a gold medal for the pommel was 100% the pinnacle of my career.
Steve Jones
Welsh television presenter
Were? I'm happiest right now!
Sara Cox
English broadcaster
Getting a daily show on Radio 2, because that was an ambition for so long.
Shirley MacLaine
American actress and author
Watching my two baby dogs play. They are rat terriers, rescue dogs.
More from Niamh Cusack
View profile →The world we are bequeathing to our children and our children’s children, both climatically and politically.
As good enough.
Never making it into a Sondheim musical.
Better hearing.
A saint. Then a ballerina.
A longed-for, familiar shore at sunset.
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
Harry Enfield, John Waters, Gemma Whelan, Lance Black, Jerry Hall, Kiefer Sutherland
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