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.
When I was about eight, by a river waiting for my dad to finish fishing, eating a Mars bar, drinking a can of Coke and listening to Beat It by Michael Jackson on my Walkman. I remember feeling I couldn’t be happier.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 April 2022 source ↗
Now. I feel wiser and calmer than I’ve ever been.
Becoming a mum quashed so many demons within me, and gave me confidence and a sense of calm.
Those years from 1953 to 1975 were extremely happy years for me. I did many adventurous activities. I got deeply involved in these aid programs for the people of the Himalayas. I had a nice family, we took our family into the out-of-doors, we camped and we swam and we clambered around the hills. For me, it was a very full and a very happy existence.
In Macon, Georgia, during my childhood. I knew everybody there—it was like the whole town was your family. I felt complete there.
When I left drama school, I thought I was going to work at the Royal Court and tell stories about political injustice. I got cast in ITV murder mysteries.
I’ve got vertigo, so anything to do with heights.
Control freakery in the kitchen.
Not feeling like you have to be anywhere else.
Alan Cumming, Steve Pemberton, Nicholas Parsons, Ice-T, Pauline McLynn, Adrian Dunbar
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