Recently, Chicago artist Saba released an album titled "Bucket List Project." The album is, in short, incredible. It's been in steady rotation for me, like most who've heard it, since it released. While the music itself is amazing (it happens to be my favorite project this year,) the thing that appeals to me most about the project is its theme of the Bucket List; a list of things one wants to achieve before they pass, or "kick the bucket." Saba's smooth soulful lyrics about growing up in Chicago and his dreams of accomplishing and overcoming are interspersed with friends and family announcing their bucket lists. Chance The Rapper wants to learn to play the drums, Jean Deaux wants to smoke a blunt with Beyoncé, Saba's father wants to travel the world with his son, and so on. It's a beautiful concept; to take ones deepest desires, the things they absolutely want to do before they pass, and share them, offering a glimpse into their inner workings.

It's not a concept that's foreign to me either; after a close cousin passed in 2002, my aunt discovered his bucket list and shared it with the family. His bucket list was more like a laundry list; 56 goals he wanted to accomplish before age 35 (goal #52,) with items ranging from "go mountain climbing" to "save a life" to "sneak out 5 times before I graduate high school." I wanted to write my own bucket list, in much the same way I wanted to do everything my older cousin did, but being eight years old I never got around to it. I held the thought in the back of my head for years, but never felt inspired to put pen to paper and make my list until I heard Saba's "Bucket List Project." Hearing that many people speak their goals inspired me to put mine on paper and start moving to accomplish them. Reflecting on the album, I also realized how important and powerful it is to speak your goals. So here is, in part, my Bucket List Project.

Travel the far north

I've always wanted to visit Alaska. I grew up reading my grandfather's Ansel Adams books, and always loved his work in the state. I got a chance to visit a few years ago, helping my mother check visiting Alaska off her bucket list. During my visit, I fell in love with the far north; the untouched rawness of the land, and the closeness of the people to it. I began to look at other communities near the Arctic Circle. So far I have a handful of communities to travel to: Nuuk, Greenland; Reykjavik, Iceland; Longyearbyen, Norway and Barrow, Alaska.

Meet my grandkids

This may seem like a gimme or an easy addition to flesh out my list, but I take this goal seriously. I've always been family focused, and I have a close relationship with my family members. Starting my own family is an important goal to me. Statistics say that, as a black male, I shouldn't have survived to the age of 21, and that I have an even lower chance of seeing 25. It's important to me that I not only survive, but thrive, and make it to a ripe old age, and see not only my grandkids, but their kids too.

Write a book

This is something that would have been on my bucket list in the third grade, right alongside eating candy and learning the drums (both of which I could have crossed off.) I've always been a reader, and I've wanted to write my own book for as long as I can remember. I used to want to write a young adult fiction novel; now I'm leaning towards poetry. No matter the genre, this is a goal I'm definitely serious about accomplishing.

Get as many degrees as I can

If writing a book would have been on my original bucket list, advanced degrees surely wouldn't have been. College has been a long hard road; from starting at a community college with goals of transferring after two years, to switching majors, to taking semesters off to work, to switching majors again, and again. I finally get my first degree in the spring, after an amount of years I'm not proud of. But one degree won't satisfy me, so the work doesn't stop there. After spending most of my life thinking of myself as a one-and-done college student, I find myself looking for where i'll work towards my bachelors, and then my masters degree. Growth! Which leads me to my final item...

Never stop growing

Life is a journey. As we go through life, we go through changes. In our youth, it's about our physical changes. We grow taller and our body develops. As we get older however, it's important to keep growing, not physically, but mentally, emotionally, and as a person overall. It may not be as easy to chart this kind of growth, but it's just as important. You'll notice, the people in your life will notice, and everyone will be the better for it. My focus is always on my personal growth, and I want to continue that.

These are just a few of the things on my bucket list. The others may be more simple (learn to make homemade pasta) or a little harder (run a mile nonstop) but they're all equally important. What's on your bucket list? Drop a few items from your list in the comment, or share them when you share the article!