Ancient Rights: a Woman's Journey

Merrill Darwin lives in the Florida Keys with her boyfriend, Neal Miller. They've been together for five years, but lately it's become apparent that things are not working between them and at the same time Merrill's art career is stalled, which she blames on broken promises. With her interest in all things Native American, she decides to take a break and travel to New Mexico. This will take her away from her daily routine and Neal, in order to paint non-stop in a new location without constant interruptions from other responsibilities. She wants to separate herself from Neal in order to look at their relationship from another perspective.

As an admirer of the late painter Georgia O’Keeffe who lived and painted at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu New Mexico, outside of Santa Fe, she is thrilled to be in the very place that her hero spent the latter years of her career. Merrill settles in easily to this magnificent locale where mysterious occurrences happen almost from the moment she arrives at the Albuquerque International airport and as she drives in her rental car to Plaza Resolana, the Santa Fe counterpart of Ghost Ranch, for the first night of this new adventure. Unexplained messages in vivid dreams, a young Native American girl on the road side who runs from her when Merrill stops to pick up the young hitch hiker, and the appearance of a ghost-like woman who can't be explained, all add to her daily life at the ranch and the time spent at her easel. An unexpected meeting near the end of her three weeks during the arrival of a large number of guests at the ranch who will be housed on the mesa where Merrill has been living, throws her off balance, altering the decision to return to the Keys with an open-mind to work on her relationship. with Neal. Change promotes growth and Merrill finds her journey filled with soul searching and a new outlook as she aims at achieving balance and becomes more tuned in to her own ancient rights on this self-imposed journey offering her much more than she ever bargained for.