The Last Meeting Theory

I came across something on TikTok called the Last Meeting Theory, and I thought it was such an interesting concept.

The idea is that sometimes, when you’ve finished playing a certain role in someone’s life, you may have already had your last meeting with them without even realizing it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be because something dramatic happened lol. Maybe you were friends and eventually grew apart. Maybe you dated and broke up. Maybe you were classmates, coworkers, neighbors, or simply two people who were once really close.

You could live five minutes away from each other and still never see each other again.

Think about how strange that actually is. You could both be going about your normal lives in the same area, visiting the same places, using the same roads, and somehow your paths just don’t cross anymore.

Maybe one person walks down a certain street at 8:15am and the other walks down that exact street at 8:24am. Maybe one person leaves a shop just before the other arrives. Maybe you both go to the same restaurant on different days. You’re technically still in each other’s vicinity, but you never actually meet.

And that’s what I find so interesting about the theory.

We don’t usually know when we’re having our last meeting with someone.

The last time you sit next to a friend at school might just feel like an ordinary day. The last time you laugh with someone might not feel significant. The last conversation you have with a person could be completely normal. You don’t necessarily think, “This is probably the last time I’ll ever see this person.”

You just go home.

Then boom life happens.

People move. Friendships change. Relationships end. People get new jobs, go to different schools, make new friends, start new relationships, move to different neighborhoods, or simply grow into different versions of themselves.

And sometimes, without either person consciously deciding it, their paths stop crossing.

I also think the theory is interesting because it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone was unimportant just because they aren’t in your life anymore. Some people are only part of certain periods of our lives. You can have years of memories with someone and still eventually become strangers again.

Maybe someone was there to teach you something. Maybe YOU taught them something. Maybe you were simply meant to experience a certain part of life together like being classmates. Or maybe there doesn’t have to be some huge reason at all. Sometimes people just come into your life, spend some time there, and eventually leave.

And the weirdest part is that you might never know when the last meeting will take place.

You could walk past the same places.

You could have mutual friends.

You could be in the same town at the same time.

You could even be on the same road only minutes apart.

And somehow, you just never cross paths again.

I don’t believe in the Last Meeting Theory literally, but I do think it’s a really interesting way of looking at the people who have come and gone from our lives.

Because sometimes, the last time you see someone isn’t some big dramatic goodbye.

Sometimes it’s just a completely ordinary Tuesday.

And you don’t know it’s the last meeting until much later. 

With love,

Roshan.