If you could edit your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Guy Pearce said elsewhere, not written here
I wish I could go back and not be the anxious child that I was. I spent the first 25 years of my life just trying to survive human interaction.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 January 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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There was a very large part of my 20s where I was an alcoholic, and an addict. When I lost my dad to cirrhosis, I knew that the only difference between us was that, tragically, he couldn’t stop whereas I could.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

Sofie Gråbøl Danish actress
I'd have a good, encouraging start in school – I think I'd be a different person, with fewer anxiety attacks.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2014 source ↗

George Michael English singer-songwriter
I should have sung with David Gilmour at Carnegie Hall because I'm a massive fan of Pink Floyd.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 August 2014 source ↗

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