follow the wind

English

Verb

follow the wind (third-person singular simple present follows the wind, present participle following the wind, simple past and past participle followed the wind)

1. To choose what one does based on current circumstances rather than sticking to a plan or fixed set of principles.
   • 2004, Steven Englund, Napoleon: A Political Life, →ISBN, page 52:

     Lucien wrote to Joseph: in a Revolution, it is essential to hew to a line, not "follow the wind" or "suddenly change sides."

   • 2010, Steven M. Studebaker, Pentecostalism and Globalization, →ISBN:

     For inherent in our legacy is a commitment to Follow the Wind, scanning the horizons, reading the signs of the times, listening to the voice of the Spirit even as we continue to be nourished deeply by the Word.

   • 2011, John Zurn, Memoirs of a Bipolar Soul, →ISBN, page 35:

     So, to put the ritual in motion, let's suppose Bob wanted to follow the wind on any given day to create a “secret communication” that God and others would understand.

   • 2018 December 27, Patrick Radden Keefe, “How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success”, in The New Yorker:

     “I’ve never known Mark to be religious,” Gold observed. But she noted that “people close to him have said, ‘He follows the wind.’ ”

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see follow,‎ wind.
   • 2012, Yvonne Herman, The Arctic Seas: Climatology, Oceanography, Geology, and Biology, →ISBN:

     Thus, short-term fluctuations in ice drift will tend to follow the wind, while longer-term variations can be more strongly affected by ice interaction.

See also

• fly by the seat of one's pants
• which way the wind is blowing