Ever notice that the only happy people at the airport are the ones with iPods?

Recently, I was at O'Hare, waiting to board a flight home to Denver.  The flight was delayed by two hours, which meant I would be sleeping in my own bed sometime after 1am.

I had the foresight before departing on my trip to load up on a few of my favorite Christmas CDs, including A Charlie Brown Christmas and James Taylor at Christmas.

I immediately noticed my mood lift with the first sounds of Go Tell It On the Mountain. Things didn't seem so bad. I didn't feel as tired. I was grateful I was going home at all, after an intense day of client work.

I noticed the deadened faces of my fellow travelers. The only people who seemed alive were those with earbuds connecting them to their favorite music.

I'm not just imagining things. Fellow blogger and Twitterer, Stephanie West-Allen (twitter name @idealawg), points me to this presentation about Music and the Mind and the Wall Street Journal provides some additional facts and figures of the physical and mental benefits of listening to music.

The Wall Street Journal also reported on the tie-in between Christmas music, community-building, and our mood (for buying and other activities.) What caught my eye was this quote:

"The average 14-year old will hear more music in a year than his great grandfather would have in a lifetime. Virtually every song ever recorded in the history of the world is available on the Internet somewhere. Thanks to intrepid musical explorers, even rare, indigenous and pre-industrial music is now available…So although we listen alone, we are listening to more music and more diverse…And on the social side, the growth of peer-to-peer (P2P) and other file-sharing communities has restored the communal, human joy of sharing and discovering music we like with others of similar mind and taste."

I was delighted when things indeed came full circle in my listening adventures. This morning, another fellow blogger and Twitterer, Stevie Knight (twitter name @stevieknight) shared a song just right for sparking the beginning of a great day:

We are living in a remarkable age, with more control over creating the experience we want than ever before, and the tools to easily share those experiences with others. Yes, we are living through the worst recession in decades. And like the song says, this is your life.

What music helps you change your mind, mood and outlook?  What music do you share with others?