“All that you leave unsaid will burn you,” she wrote. Putting herself in others’ shoes, feeling all their greatest pains, regrets and their countless thoughts; the Egyptian author Yusra Badr wrote all the forbidden human desires in her recently published book, “Unsaids and Undones”. In memory of all those uncountable times, when you fought so hard to speak up the words you knew were your salvation, but eventually ended up burying them deep down next to the darkest parts of your soul, this book knows you better. This book may be your way of searching for salvation.
“It all started when I was at the age of nine, with a poem I wrote about the mess in my room,”
We sat with the talented Yusra Badr to explore her world more; her inspirations, fears and thoughts that generated her spectacular book. “It all started when I was at the age of nine, with a poem I wrote about the mess in my room,” she says. Throughout the years, Yusra has evolved her passion for writing, beginning with English classes in school, moving to reading horror stories, then reading Danielle Steel’s romantic novels during her teenage years; she is now more interested in non-fiction, philosophy and psychology. From Yusra’s perspective, the market for writers is very limited –especially with an extremely niche audience for English books in Egypt. But her persistence to pursue her dream in publishing more novels is unstoppable.
Speaking of her new book, she told us that the key concept is empathy. “I always put myself in others’ shoes, and observe and experience exactly what they feel at their most shocking, exciting and painful moments, and I try to put it into words,” she says.
“There are more reasons for silence, than there are reasons for speech,”
Yusra had recently translated the voices of our silence in her book “Unsaids and Undones”, revealing the reasons and the consequences behind it. “There are more reasons for silence, than there are reasons for speech. It’s a fight to talk, when you talk about things that make you vulnerable or exposed. You’re basically telling them: I am naked, and I need you to protect this. But if they don’t, a piece of you eventually dies,” she says. This is why Yusra believes human beings prefer silence in their deepest moment.
“The person who said what I cannot say myself,”
Although every relationship differs, the reasons of silence remain the same. “Sometimes we prefer silence for fear of getting misunderstood. Other times, it’s the futility when knowing your words will change nothing –and it’s not worth the effort. There are also the times you fear others’ reactions,” she says. Who doesn’t wish to not regret anything in their lives? Luckily, Yusra is one of the few who don’t believe in regret; but she can’t seem to count the times when she wished she could have spoken out what was in her heart.
“The person who said what I cannot say myself,” she says. An eternal wish for the authentic author is to find the one who can say exactly everything she feels, but can’t say. She wishes to inspire others to speak up their own silent voices, and aspires to capture more stories of significant moments in people’s lives; that’s why she tends to draw a special canvas about this topic in her new book.