i Editor's Letter: Thank goodness that's over

Thank goodness that's over. I don't want to sound like a grinch, but I don't want to see another Christmas card, or piece of discarded wrapping paper, or slice of cold turkey for a very long time.

The thing I find most difficult to deal with is not the fridge full of leftovers, but the sort of stasis that creeps over the land at Christmas and New Year. I suppose it's appropriate, given that the word "solstice" means (roughly translated) "the sun stands still".

It's very frustrating for those of us who have to trundle into work as usual. Family and friends wave goodbye as you set off, their cries of "poor you" ringing in your ears while they settle back and tuck into their fourth glass of sloe gin in preparation for another day in front of the telly.

Maybe it's because I'm a keen gardener – or perhaps I'm just impatient – but the minute the new year is rung in, I want to be getting on with it. I want to be out looking for bulbs poking inquisitive noses through the cold earth, not slumped in a comatose heap in front of Sister Act II: Back In The Habit.

Today, the majority of the working population will be back on the move. Once you've battled your way through the rain and wind those nice people at the Met Office forecast for today, counted the cost of the fare rises, and worked out that you only have 2p left with which to buy your lunchtime sandwich or Americano, you may not feel 2012 has much to offer.

Here at i, we like to take a more optimistic view of life. In today's paper, our experts are taking all the gloom and doom predictions for this year by the scruff of the neck and shaking them thoroughly to dislodge all the silver linings lurking within.

And remember: there are now only 77 days until the start of spring.