Dig a hole. Fill it up. Inner peace?

There’s a story (seemingly fabricated) that, during the Great Depression in the US, the government hired people to dig holes.  One group of workers was supposedly hired to dig all day, and the next day they had off.  On that off day, another group of workers came in, hired to fill in vast holes.  According to the story, this was a way to give a struggling populace a sense of purpose to help them get through the tough time.  I’ve also heard that digging a deep hole and then filling it up is a zen practice.  The digging is so full of intent that the mind is free to relax and seek inner peace.