About the Book
Beyond Reality and Back Again: Lessons from a Lifetime is Kathy Anderson’s follow-up to her harrowing autobiography, Lilies in the Field, which details her battle with schizoaffective disorder. Drawing from her many life experiences and covering topics from religion to work to therapy and the military, Anderson shares some of the many life lessons she learned throughout her career as an Air Force captain—all while engaged in a decades-long struggle with mental illness.
This book is the perfect companion to Anderson’s autobiography, providing new context and a fresh perspective from someone who has hit rock bottom and then clawed her way back up. Wonderfully hopeful and deeply encouraging, readers of any age or at any stage of life can relate to Anderson’s setbacks, questions, struggles, choices, and victories.
By examining one life in depth, this book helps readers see the silver lining in any situation. Anderson shows us how to identify the valuable lessons to be gained from any hardship and spurs us to never stop living and learning. She proves we can all reach the ultimate goal of a happy life.
Reviews
"Kathy Anderson’s empathetic pamphlet-length memoir Beyond Reality and Back Again mines reassuring advice from her Air Force career and management of mental illness.
Anderson grew up on military bases in Europe with high-achieving parents who expressed love for her and expectedher to succeed. She became self-reliant to a fault. Though she never faced explicit pressure to do so, Anderson followed in her mother’s footsteps and joined the Air Force.
As she ignored her stress, Anderson’s health faltered. After years of dealing with dismissive doctors, she experienced a breakdown. In time, she was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. She retired from the military to focus on self-care and volunteer services.
Reflecting on Anderson’s personal achievements with pride and gratitude, the book trades between memories and sharing the lessons that she learned from her struggles. Indeed, each chapter is directed by an era of Anderson’s life and revolves around a set of thematic values developed during that time. In her youth, for instance, Anderson learned to value self-sufficiency, sacrifice, and equity and inclusion. Later, when her tireless work ethic led to a breakdown, she learned the value of rest. And her determination to find a diagnosis and treatment for the delusions and depression she experienced is used to illustrate the importance of knowing “what you want and embrac[ing] what you need.” Axioms like “Feeling any human emotion toward God is okay” and “There is nothing you cannot choose for yourself, even if it might seem impossible in the moment” are shared throughout, alongside encouragements “to see
happiness, not your job, as the most important thing."
Beyond Reality and Back Again is an inspiring, levelheaded book of advice from an Air Force captain about finding balance between achievement, self-care, and service to others."
─Foreword Clarion Reviews
