The secret to unlocking creativity & joy: Do something!

Two weeks ago a bright yellow little book titled The Book of Doing: everyday activities to unlock your creativity and joy was delivered to my doorstep.
As its title implies, it's a book about rolling up your sleeves and tackling small creative projects -- with lots of bite-sized ideas to inspire you to take action.
As I quickly flipped through the pages, I couldn't help but be drawn in by the gorgeous illustrations (no org-porn photos to "inspire" and simultaneously paralyze, yippee!). The author's tone was smart and friendly; reading the project ideas kind of made me feel like I was sharing a few daydreams over a cup of coffee with a good girlfriend.
And the author's personal journey gave me even more reason to love what was there.
By day, she's the Publisher of Advertising Age.
Like so many of my good friends, she had a vague sense that something was missing as she approached her 40th birthday. While happy in her career, her creative side was languishing.
She wondered if she should quit her job to try to find her passion.
In the end, she found that simply doing things, small projects, like baking cupcakes with her daughter, unlocked the joy and the childlike sense of wonder that had been missing from her everyday, spent mostly in meetings and in Power Point. As she looked at her life as a whole, she realized it, too, was an arts-and-crafts project -- only as colorful, interesting and exciting as she made it.
So she starting doing more.
And the joy she found in doing spilled over into every area of her life. And led to her write the book, which is now inspiring others to do the same.
I won't lie - I've had more than my fair share of "what am I DOING with my life?" existential crises over the past two years (I turned 40 in 2012). So I decided to put some of her ideas to the test to see if they'd help clear some cobwebs from my own mind.
There were so many projects to choose from.
In the end, I found I couldn't stop at just one. Here's what I've been up to these past two weeks:

Honestly - I, too, felt the energized and a surge of joy from simply doing. I highly recommend it!
Have you ever felt like something was missing - stuck in a rut? Do you think a creative, hands-on project could help you snap out of your funk? If you have a go-to project, I'd LOVE to hear it.