Meet The Author of Good Light, Riley Reign

Let’s break the fourth wall for a second, yeah?

Welcome to behind the journal, where we’ll get more into the nitty gritty of the human experience, and I’ll share more stories from my own personal life & journey.

Hi. Hello. Let me break the fourth wall for a second, yeah?

In an effort to define how I get to exist as an artist and to connect more on a personal level with you, I thought it might be meaningful to share some of my heart and who I am —as an author, as a creative, and as a fellow human.

So, hi, I am Riley Reign, the voice behind Good Light. I’m a 25 yr old mindfulness & empowerment content creator, full-time nomad (for now), and most importantly, to my core, a writer and artist. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember… I wrote short stories for no one but myself when I was a kid. I’ve dabbled in poetry (which you’ll sometimes get a taste of here). I still have nearly every journal I’ve ever written in, and the notes app has always been a sacred space to me. I’ve always been infatuated with art and the people who make it.

I’ve gone from writing in my own journals, to publishing a blog (that was incredibly similar to this newsletter) as a teenager, to giving up on the blog and losing my voice trying to be an “instagram writer” many years later, to being in the process of finding my voice again and finding myself here, writing the Good Light journal for you.

I love art like my lungs love oxygen. I don’t know if its from growing up around creative types who made art from nothing right before my eyes, or from being fascinated by the greats for as long as I can remember, or from running around music festivals every summer of my teenage years, or if it has something to do with my “purpose” (i do have a sense that does have something to do with it, though)… but there is nothing more refreshing to my soul, than art. Nothing that feels more like love and wonder and aliveness and home to me, more than art.

Art heals. Art connects. Art is an expression of greater understanding that helps us to understand better, too.

So, “how does a random gen-z 20 something come to write a deeply spiritual mindfulness, self-worth, and healing focused journal?” I don’t have a triumphant hero’s journey story to tell you. You might have thought that would be the obvious answer, or maybe it was the one you were hoping for. But, I have genuinely always been a deeply connected person - in part because it’s always been my nature, and in part because it was nurtured in my upbringing. I mean, I am the girl who spent 10 days in silence meditating to “celebrate” her 18th birthday.

I’ve historically been a person who hugs trees unironically, and that was before there was any mainstream neuroscience to support how grounding can regulate your nervous system. I travel because I love falling deeply in love with people, places, and cultures. I also want to bear witness to and connect with as much of the world as I possibly while I get to be here. I love being alive so much that I hope to live past 100. I want as many summers with fresh fruit and salt water and storytelling and laughter with people that I love, that I can possibly steal.

I’ve become pretty decent at realizing my own dreams over-time, and I’ve learned that dreams come true when you dare to live them. One of the longest dreams I’ve had is to be able to write for the encouragement of people all over the world, which is why we’re here. This journal is me daring to be seen as a writer, daring to create a writing career, daring to cultivate a world-wide audience. I’ve written when no one was reading, clicking, or seeming to care about what I created. Even when I’ve tried to ignore it, my Why has never left me. The call to create has never left me. The hope, and a feeling of responsibility in some sense, to encourage people to embrace life has never let me ignore it.

What I used to be told was naïveté in the way I saw people and the world, and how I wanted to move through it, has become my conviction to uplift people. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably keep saying it — It is heartbreaking to me how people have been cheated of their sense of self, worth, light, and beauty in life. This world can make us feel small and helpless (or worse, inherently bad) all too much. But I promise you, humanity is so fucking resilient and full of hope and enthusiasm to find experiences of healing and of light.

I write to breathe fresh air and light into your life. I write so that people can feel known and come to know themselves a little deeper, with a little more care. I write to help soothe your nervous system. If people can read my work and feel safer in their bodies & lives, and become more connected to their own heart and the possibility of life, and be encouraged to create a life that fills them with radiance and meaning, then I’ll know I’m living into my Why.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for seeking better for yourself.

Get out there and make some Good Light.

Xx Riley Reign

P.s. Leave a comment below and introduce yourself! The Good Light journal is intended to be a community space, so let’s all get to know each other.

Here are a few ways you can support me as an artist & help me get my work farther out into the world —

1. Subscribe to the Good Light journal! I’ll even give you your first month for free 😘

2. Share the Good Light journal with a friend, loved one, or on social media.

3. Leave a comment about what you enjoyed about this post or what you related with!