The art of improvisation: how 'flying by the seat of your pants' shapes creativity

Though flying by any means is a mode of transportation I avoid, I am a pro at “flying by the seat of my pants.” I grew up hearing this common phrase and use it frequently.

According to the Postal Museum in the Smithsonian, it can be traced back to early aviation days when pilots had limited navigation and flight control tools. “They flew by experience, intuition and feel.” Because the pilot’s seat was the largest surface the pilots had contact with, they could feel through their pants how the plane reacted to whatever they did. They could also feel how well the engine was chugging along.

Wonderopolis (an info site for students) notes it appears to have originated in England as “flies by the seat of his trousers.” Quora reports it first appeared in print in 1938 by the Edwards Intelligencer in an article about American pilot Douglas Corrigan and his landing in Ireland. (That’s an interesting story. Denied permission to make a transatlantic flight, he wound up across the pond anyway, blaming it on dense cloud cover and earning the nickname Wrong Way Corrigan. He had prepared his plane for such a flight before requesting permission. You decide).

I recently read this from Rolling Stone: “The Great Writing Divide: Inside the Creative Battle Between Plotters and Pantsers.” Noted authors in each category are Stephen King, a discovery writer, and JK Rowling, a fastidious plotter.

“Pantsers” neatly wraps into one word the idiom that is the focus here. All sorts of folks gained fame this way. Slide down internet rabbit holes on a rainy day and discover curious tidbits about them and their contributions. Consider these for starters: Engineer Mestral/Velcro; Scientist Silver/Post-it Notes. Pantsers come in all ages, from lots of places, doing lots of neat things in all avenues for both fun and profit.

“Flying by the seat of your pants” has varied interpretations, but it generally means diving right into an adventure or project without a pre-determined plan, figuring out what to do and how to do it along the way. That’s for sure how I’ve taken many road trips. Following my nose by the seat of my pants might be apropos.

Living this idiom indicates I practiced being in the moment long before I knew mindfulness was a thing. Occasionally I sense a bit of regret in the midst of an activity. “Wow! This is cool! I wish I had planned better (or allowed more time, or considered these factors).”

But who am I kidding? Needing to make a plan would have nixed the whole idea to start with, or resulted in changing mid-stream. My rare planning attempts create quizzical responses. My dad thought I lacked common sense.

I’m in awe of organized planners. My life benefits from their approaches. They are the reason I survive to function. Hopefully I make a positive contribution in some way with my haphazard slant to life.