Electron configuration vs. Lewis dot structure?

[nehCrM]

I am trying to make a connection between the two in terms of the electron configuration for an atom relative to the octet rule for Lewis Dot diagrams. Maybe I just don't understand what the electron configuration represents. Why is it that Lewis Dot diagrams utilize 8 valence electrons as a full 'shell', whereas electron configurations have varying degrees of allowable electrons per orbitals as in the outermost orbital?

 

[DrClaude]

The octet rule is applicable to main-group elements, where it is the s and p orbitals that participate in bonding.