Happiness—Is It Just a Matter of Waiting to Meet Your Double?

Abstract

Doubles play an unexpected and strong role in the lore, in the imagery, and in the life of waiting. Perhaps, we shouldn’t be surprised by the prominence of doubles for waiting. Is this because waiting is an experience that’s built on pairs? You wait for someone or for something and just sometimes they are just like you or just like some part of you that you’re missing. Maybe if you can understand that double you can understand that part of yourself. Doubling, it looks like, is no panacea for unhappiness—but sometimes it can be. Maybe this is as it should be for waiting.