Folders and Boxes and Landmarks, Oh My!

Actual photo of me sorting inventory. You can tell I'm absolutely ecstatic. 

If you ever want to strike up a conversation with strangers on the grid but you're not sure what to say, just bring up your ginormous inventory. In Second Life, complaining about the endlessness of inventory sorting is the social equivalent of talking about the weather.

Not everyone's inventory is a mess. I've heard stories of the mythical creatures who have excellent habits, placing each item into the correct folder the moment they unpack it. 

I am not one of those people.

I wish I had a magical solution to share, but I don't. My inventory is so far gone, I'm not sure it can be saved. It can't hurt to work on it from time to time though, especially after a few weekend shopping sprees. I usually start by deleting all the demos I've accumulated, followed by landmarks. 

I never use landmarks to get anywhere. depending mostly on my teleport history or search. Stores and clubs move to a new home or relocate their landing zone and you can't be sure where you'll end up. Nothing makes me stabby like TPing to a store and landing in a wall. The few LMs I do use regularly are saved in my favorites bar. So most landmarks get deleted.

After that is the sorting. It helps to have a second inventory window, making it easier to drag and drop things into the right folder. 

So many folders.

You have one for "shoes?" Great! But is it divided in to "flats" and "heels?" And did you divide the flats in to "sandals" and "dress?" Then you can break it down in to colors, if you're a control freak and never want to see the outside world again.

If mine makes it to "shoes" I consider it a success.

I occasionally see sorting parties pop up, where folks get together and chit chat while they work on their inventories. I think that's a grand idea. It's a lonely, boring business done alone. 

I've just come to accept the imperfection of my own collections of stuff and things. It's not totally out of control, just a little messy. And it's a great conversation starter.

I hope ya'll have a great week! Begin something magical.