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.

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Nicholson Baker Contemporary American novelist and writer
When we had children at home. But recently I finished a book about old secrets that I’ve been working on for a long time, and when I was done, I felt a gigantic, joyful relief in having escaped from the corn maze of remembered facts in which I’d been wandering for so long.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 August 2020 source ↗
Tess Daly English television presenter
Holding my two babies, Phoebe and Amber, for the first time.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 December 2016 source ↗
Brett Anderson English singer
Right now. It's a beautiful thing to find yourself "the wrong side of 40" and more in love with life than ever. I never tell people this publicly as they wrongly assume the only valid creative state is that of the cliche of the tubercular, tortured artist coughing up blood in his garret.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 September 2011 source ↗

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