Paterson Joseph: 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 Paterson Joseph said elsewhere, not written here

When my son was about three years old and I was working at the National Theatre. I remember cycling from Twickenham, and thinking, “This is the golden age: I’ll never be happier or more content than this.”

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 February 2020 source ↗

Others on this question

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Toyah Willcox English singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter

Between 2007 and 2016, I had a large white rabbit called WillyFred. I was happiest pressing my ear to his fur and hearing his heart beat.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 April 2019 source ↗

Joan Bakewell English journalist, television presenter and politician

My student days at Cambridge.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 October 2013 source ↗

Eve Ensler American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist

In my 60s. So many things that tortured me when I was younger have fallen away. Writing The Apology, the letter I wrote in my father’s voice, apologising for abusing me, has freed me from the last vestiges of anger, confusion, rancour and hate. It released me from a frame that had determined my life.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2019 source ↗

Erin Doherty