I set out to find the happiness I felt as a child, and it worked – let me tell you how I did it

‘As a child I remember sitting on the floor, delightfully happy, clicking the little Lego bricks together.’ Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

When I remember being very young, moments of intense happiness stand out – happiness that came from just curling up in bed, or playing a game with friends, or flicking through a book about beachcombing. As I got older, that simple, deep happiness became harder and harder to achieve as new emotions and adult responsibilities settled in. In many ways, my attempts at happiness in adulthood have been attempts to get back to that uncomplicated feeling of relaxation and pleasure.

I think I’ve managed to get closer to it now than I’ve ever been before in adult life, in part by rediscovering past pleasures.