Gilbert's most recent book is the blockbuster Eat, Pray, Love. She's also worked as a magazine reporter and participated in John Hodgman's Little Gray Books Lecture Series.
Does talking about it really help? Stories where it does, and stories where it doesn't, including Michael Bernard Loggins, who tried to battle his fears by listing them. He ended up with a list 183 items long.
In real life, we usually never get to invent ingenious solutions, like the guy in the old TV series MacGyver. Today, four real stories in which real people invent amazingly clever solutions to their problems.