It’s sometimes necessary to take a time out from all the clutter that comes with listening to music, especially addictive music like Adele’s.

There’s a reason that Adele is a multi Grammy winning artist. There’s something akin to magic in her voice. It’s hard to listen to her and not be moved. Whether it’s feeling like dancing to her fast songs like “Rolling in the Deep” or getting caught up in sweet melancholy with “Someone Like You” it’s hard not to have a reaction.

A friend recently gave me a copy of her album “21” which I kept in my car so that I could listen to it. I rarely listen to music if it’s not on the radio and I only have a radio/CD player in the car so that’s usually the one place where I listen to it.

Pretty soon, I ignored the radio all together and stuck to “21” where I slowly began to discover lesser known songs like tracks 9 and 18 which quickly became my favorites. I’d sing along with Adele in the car and it was fun. But, eventually I found myself humming Adele songs to myself even when I wasn’t in the car. Then later, I found my thoughts would have Adele lyrics in the background. And then the last straw: the debates I would have with myself, about whether to play Adele or listen to the Quran. Normally on my drive to work in the mornings I listen to the Quran. I then listen to Adele on the drive back. But some mornings, I would feel like listening to Adele instead. Or even in the afternoons on the drive back, I’d ask myself is it really worth it spending all this time listening to Adele when I could be listening to the Quran.

At that point I realized I was at a cross roads. Allow Adele to completely permeate every aspect of my thoughts and my subconscious or to stop that from happening.

I decided it was time for an Adele detox. One whole day without listening to Adele. It was harder than I thought. Whenever my finger found its way to the dashboard I’d remind myself that today was an Adele free day. I started playing the radio then stopped myself because I didn’t want to replace Adele with another musician. I wanted to break the cycle of addiction.

After the first day I had mixed feelings. So, I had survived one day without listening to Adele, but I still had her catchy songs stuck in my head. I realized one day wouldn’t be enough. So I decided to go for a week. Then two. Now it’s been over a month and I’ve completely forgotten the cravings I had for Adele and “21”.

One thing is certain Adele is no longer my shadow. I no longer hum her songs to myself in the bathroom. Nor do I crave to turn on the radio in my car. There are no longer any debates about whether I’ll listen to the Quran or listen to Adele. The Quran wins every time without competition as it should.

Now I listen to Adele and other types of music occasionally, but I don’t think I’ll ever allow any music to have that much power over me again. I’ve found that I really like the sound of silence and the sound of my own thoughts. Sometimes silence really is golden.

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