'Bitchcraft' is such hard work!

By Lopa Patel, 4 September 2009

'Bitchcraft', the term a friend coined for my blog writing of late, is such hard work! For a perennial optimist*, like myself (I know, it's hard to believe), writing caustic put-downs in the style of Dorothy Parker takes far more grey cells than writing positive, gushing words full of idealism and hope.

If you are not familiar with Dorothy Parker quotations, one of my favourites is "If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to", although you may also like her statement "I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true" or "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses." Another of my favourite Parker-isms is "she runs the gamut of emotions from A to B", although I have never found any woman to whom that applies...although a few have come close!

Positive thinking improves performance over negative thinking

In his blog, marketing guru Seth Godin argues that "positive thinking improves performance over negative thinking." He wonders if those of us who dwell on negative thinking are actually stupid (answer, probably). "Negative thinking feels realistic, or soothes our pain, or eases our embarrassment. Negative thinking protects us and lowers expectations. In many ways, negative thinking is a lot more fun than positive thinking. So we do it." Godin believes that positive thinking takes more effort but is more rewarding in the long term.

Journalism and creativity need negative thinking

Where, I think he's wrong is in the case of journalism and creativity. Critics would argue that composing a suitably witty, but accurate sentence to honestly describe their experience takes far longer than writing a staid, positive review of something that is merely ordinary. 'Bitchcraft' is also the antithesis of melancholy - it aspires to prospective improvement, rather than wallowing in moroseness.

I think creativity is also spurred more by negativity than positivism - if we didn't think something was bad, we'd never try to change it, right? Better design, improved customer service and new product development all stem from the desire to improve on a bad (or poor) experience.

Asians always suppress the negative

Another area where Godin is wrong is in the Asian community. We are genetically driven to say only the positive and suppress the negative. We seem to regard any disgruntlement as a slur on our own character. I think that's why I've had so many comments to me personally in the past few weeks encouraging me to continue being "bitchy" (I take that to mean caustically negative)! Some, whom I speak to often, ask me what juicy topic I'm going to write about this week (hey, this isn't a Dickens novel you know!). Still, I think the reactions are interesting.

Is it time we (Asians) threw ourselves open to greater scrutiny? Said the "unsayable", thought the "unthinkable" and expressed our opinions for all to argue with? As we all know, progress often comes from "clearing the air", moving on with cultural themes and not dwelling on past mistakes. I urge you to speak up! (Preferably on this blog than by telephoning me)

Click here to read Seth Godin's blog
Click here to read the RSA's blog on 'The Social Brain'

PS. How do I know I'm a perennial optimist? Well my cup is always half full. I love the rain because it produces some beautiful rainbows and my motto is "it'll be alright on the night"!